The Bad Habit
by The Shiny Gengar
Summary: What if the girl Ash met in Hoenn wasn't the sweet and polite girl shown in the anime? Ash arrives to a new region to find that May has a bad habit, and he is determined to break it. Advanceshipping AshxMay AaMayL
1. Chapter 1

**The Bad Habit**

* * *

**With the completion of Life as a King just around the corner and in celebration of Advanceshipping Day (Which I forgot about, silly me), I present a new fic: The Bad Habit. Hope you guys enjoy.**

**I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: What If?**

* * *

It was the perfect day for a crime.

The perfect day indeed.

Charles Twinthorn whistled a merry little tune as he strolled off to his shop, his keys jingling in his hands.

He was a shorter man, and not known for staying in shape. He wore a bowl hat to cover his bald head and had a white beard that could even put Santa Claus's to shame.

It was early morning, and the sun had yet to rise. Above, a few dotted stars twinkled, and the crescent moon hung in the sky. A cool morning breeze blew through the air, rustling the tree leaves that were wet with dew.

Mr. Twinthorn finished his tune and stuck his keys into the doorknob of a small thrift store. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was "his baby" and he handled the business with wisdom and care.

He probably should have paid for a better security system though.

With a click, the door unlocked, and he pushed it open. His eyes widened in shock to see a shadowy figure standing behind the desk, two fist full of money in its hands. The cash register was on the counter, busted open. Coins and dollar bills were scattered around.

"What are you doing here?!" was Twinthorn's first question, "And how did you get inside!?"

He began to stomp toward the figure, his hand in his pocket, where he could easily withdraw his pocket knife if needed. The figure jumped over the counter making a dash for the door, shoving Twinthorn out of its way.

"Stop! Thief!" He called out, clumsily rising to his feet and dashing from his store. "I've been robbed!" He exclaimed, but no one was around, it was too early in the morning. He had no choice but to helplessly watch the crook get away with his money.

* * *

Young Ash Ketchum sat outside on the main deck of a large ferry, which was just arriving in Hoenn. Typically he would be excited to be arriving in a new region, but now he was worried.

"Pika," the small Pikachu in his arms said weakly.

"It's gonna be okay, Pikachu." Ash said, watching his Pokémon worriedly.

"The ferry will be arriving shortly," a feminine voice said through the speakers.

Ash looked down with an encouraging smile. "Hear that? We'll be in town soon, and I'll take you to the nearest Pokémon Center," he promised his mouse.

"Pika pika..." Pikachu muttered weakly, a little electricity emanating from the red pouches on his cheeks.

Ash got up from his seat on the deck, and walked to the side of the ship where they would be let off.

"Come on... Come on..." Ash muttered, as if saying it would make the ship dock any faster.

The ship finally came to a halt alongside the dock, and a few minutes later, the railing was lowered so the passengers could exit.

Ash raced down to the dock and dashed away from the port, looking around for the closest Pokémon Center.

"Excuse me," Ash began stopping a man who was walking down the road. "My Pikachu is badly hurt. Do you know where the Pokémon Center of this town is?"

"You're out of luck, kid," the man replied, not stopping his steady pace. "There's no Pokémon Center here."

Ash's eyes widened, "Wha?" he began, "No Pokémon Center!" He looked around and saw a phone booth. He dashed inside and quickly called up Professor Oak.

The screen on the television phone lit up as the famous professor appeared on the screen. "Professor Oak!" Ash exclaimed in relief.

"Ash? Why hello," Oak said with a smile. "Is there a problem?"

Ash looked down at Pikachu, "It's Pikachu," he said, the mouse was wriggling around in his arms. "He's hurt, but there's no Pokémon Center nearby."

Professor Oak glanced at Pikachu on his screen and scratched his chin. "This looks serious." he said. Suddenly his face brightened as an idea came to mind. "You should call up my friend Professor Birch. He's the professor of the Hoenn region and his lab is close by. Give him a call."

After giving Ash Birch's number, Professor Oak signed off. Ash didn't hesitate to punch in the nine digit phone number.

The screen lit up with an unfamiliar face: a man with longer brown hair and a brown beard.

"Hello? This is Professor Birch." the man said. Ash let out a sigh of relief.

"Professor Birch, this is Ash Ketchum. I'm a friend of Professor Oak." he said quickly.

Birch's face brightened with a smile. "Ah yes, Oak told me you might be stopping by." he said.

"I'm in a serious situation," Ash said, once again looking down at Pikachu, "My Pikachu is hurt, and there's no Pokémon Center in this town."

Birch looked at the Pikachu, and his brow furrowed. "Oh my, this doesn't look good," he said, "Hold on, I'll be right over!"

The professor dashed away from his phone, leaving Ash to hang up. "Um... Hello?... Professor Birch?" Ash asked, but got no reply. He shrugged and left the phone booth.

* * *

May Maple rang the small bell on her bike, waving to some people she passed by on the narrow dirt trail. Today she would receive her first Pokémon from Professor Birch.

She rose over a hill at top speed, gaining a little air on her bike, and hitting the ground with an 'oof'. She had a bright smile on her face as she thought about getting her new Pokémon, and traveling around with it.

"Duskull?"

May glanced to her right, and jumped when she saw a strange looking ghost Pokémon looking her in the eye. She swerved and went off the path, rolling down the hill, unable to stop until she crashed, face planting into a tree.

"Ow..." May said before falling off her bike and onto the ground.

She shook her head and rubbed her scalp, which was covered by her red bandana. "Stupid Pokémon," she whined, she picked up her bike and began to work her way up the hill back to the trail.

She got back on her bike, looking around for the ghost that scared her before continuing down the path towards Birch's lab.

Soon, the familiar building came into view. She had reached the lab. She stopped in front of the door and parked her bike, kicking down the stand so her bike would stay up.

She got off and walked into the lab. "Professor Birch!" May called out. "It's May! I'm here for my first Pokémon!"

A young man with glasses and a long white lab coat stepped into the room. "Oh, hello, May," he said with a smile.

May smiled brightly. "Hello, is Professor Birch here?" she asked, looking around the room. It was full of strange equipment and utensils.

"I'm sorry, but the professor just left. He said it was urgent." the young man said, "He said that you should wait for him to return."

"Where did he go?" May asked, already walking out the door to go find him.

"The pier," the lab assistant replied.

May stopped and stiffened. "But that's quite a ways away." she said, turning around. "Maybe I'll just wait for him."

"Well, feel free to have a look around the lab while you wait." the man said with a smile, gesturing around the room.

A sly grin grew across May's face. "Will do."

* * *

Birch was quick to arrive and pick up Ash and Pikachu, and after slamming down on the gas, they drove away from the pier at blinding speed.

"Your Pikachu appears to be overloaded with energy!" Birch exclaimed, trying to shout over the rushing wind. "Tell me, was he exposed to powerful magnets in the last few days?"

Ash's eyes widened as he recalled his last run through with Team Rocket. "Yeah! He did!" he said, Pikachu was sparking a little more than before.

"Well we need to get him to my lab and hook him up to our machine there. It'll absorb the electricity," Birch said, "If we don't hurry, Pikachu could explode!"

Ash eyes widened. "We got to hurry!" he said.

Birch took a sharp turn and pulled up in front of his lab, almost running into May's bike. "Come inside quickly!" he said, rushing out of his car with Ash.

They burst into the lab, causing Birch's assistant to turn and look at them. "Sir, you've returned with the Pikachu." he said, rushing over.

Birch nodded, he took Pikachu from Ash's arms and laid the rodent on a machine. "Yes, Joshua, we have to hurry and absorb an overload of electricity from him." Birch said, attaching two cords to Pikachu's cheeks. His assistant was already flipping switches and pressing buttons on the device.

"By the way, sir, May arrived earlier. She's around here somewhere." he said.

Birch nodded. "No time for her right now, the Pikachu is our top priority." he said. "Is everything set?"

His assistant nodded. "It's all ready."

Birch quickly scanned over the computer monitor, checking all the stats. "Alright, turn it on." he said. The power button was pressed, and the cords lit up as they absorbed tons of electricity.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Everyone turned to the door to see May walk in, stepping up to the machine.

Suddenly, a ringing noise came from the machine. Birch looked down at the monitor. "What?! Impossible!" he exclaimed. "The machine can't possibly be over loaded with electricity already! The Thunder Stone inside should be taking it all in!"

May stiffened. "Thunder Stone?" she asked.

"Yes, it's right in-" Birch opened up a hatch to the machine and stopped short. "I-it's gone!"

Everyone peered into the cubbyhole in the machine to see there was no Thunder Stone in sight.

"It's been removed!" Birch exclaimed, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Sir, the machine!" The assistant said.

The machine suddenly stopped, and the lights on the device began to flicker. With a loud crash, the machine exploded, causing everyone to fall to their seats.

"Pi pika!" Pikachu exclaimed. He ran around the room blindly, bumping into things and knocking things over.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, trying to grab his Pokémon as he ran by. He missed, and rodent jumped on May's head, jumping off her and out the window.

"Pikachu! No!" Ash exclaimed, dashing out the front entrance to find his friend.

May scratched her head and looked around at the now messy room. "What was wrong with that Pikachu?" she asked.

"He's overcharged with electricity, he could explode at any moment." Birch said.

May gasped, putting her gloved hand over her mouth. "That's horrible!" she exclaimed.

Birch nodded, standing up and prepared to leave, grabbing some rope and a bag. "Indeed, that machine would have saved him, but the Thunder Stone that absorbs electricity has gone missing."

May twitched. "That's... Inconvenient," she said.

Birch made his way to the exit as well. "I hate to say it, but you'll have to wait to get your Pokémon. This is urgent." he said before pushing open the door and leaving

May stood up and followed after Birch. "Wait! I want to come with you!" She exclaimed, running out as well.

...

Joshua looked around at the mess Pikachu had made while running around, and sighed. "Better grab the broom..."

* * *

"Gah!" Ash exclaimed as Pikachu threw a Thunder Bolt at him, shocking him with electricity. "Pikachu! It's me! Ash!" he tried to say, but Pikachu wouldn't listen. He lunged for his Pokémon, wrapping his arms around him and holding onto him tightly. Pikachu released another powerful blast of electricity and bit down on Ash's arm.

"Ow!" Ash exclaimed, loosening his grip a little. Pikachu used the opportunity to escape his trainers grasp and run. He was delusional. Ash appeared to be a big shadowy monster. He couldn't see clearly, causing him to run right off the ledge of a large cliff.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash exclaimed, dashing over the edge of the cliff himself. As he fell, he grabbed Pikachu and grabbed hold of a nearby root sticking out of the cliff. He shouted in pain as his body slammed against the side of the cliff.

He had stopped the fall and saved Pikachu, but now he was stuck, hanging from the side of the cliff.

Pikachu continued to squirm in Ash's arms, releasing more electricity and biting down on his arm again. Ash shouted in pain, but didn't let go.

His cry of pain did catch the attention of May and Birch, though. The two exchanged glances and dashed off in the direction of the noise.

"Ash!" Birch exclaimed as they reached the cliff.

Ash looked up and was relieved to see two familiar faces. "Professor Birch!" He called up.

"Don't worry, Ash!" Birch shouted, "I brought a rope." he grabbed the rope he had slung over his shoulder and threw it down the cliff. Ash let go of the branch and quickly grabbed the rope.

"I got it!" He exclaimed. Suddenly, Pikachu lit up in sparks again, electrifying Ash.

"Alright, May, we've got to pull!" Birch said. May nodded and grabbed the rope, and together, they began to pull Ash up the cliff.

"Pikachu! Settle down!" Ash exclaimed while Pikachu wriggled around in his grip. "It's me! Ash!"

The electricity stopped, Ash looked down to see Pikachu looking up at him.

"Pika Pi?" Pikachu asked.

Ash smiled with relief. "It's okay, Pikachu, I've got you," he said. Pikachu's ears drooped with guilt as he realized what he had done, and he began to lick the bite marks he had given Ash.

Birch and May soon pulled Ash and Pikachu up. They all collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Now..." Professor Birch panted, "We need to quickly find the Thunder Stone and-"

But he was interrupted when a large claw grabbed Pikachu, causing everyone to gasp. A pair of evil laughs could be heard, which came from a large robot that had snuck up on them. It looked similar to a large battery.

"Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed, standing up to face the robot.

"Who are they?" Birch asked, rising to his feet with May.

Ash turned to them briefly before looking back at the robot. "A bunch of no good crooks who've been trying to take Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.

"Behold! Our greatest robot yet!" The familiar voice of Meowth said through some speakers. "Dis baby will suck the electricity right outta Pikachu, and power our robot, leaving him helpless!"

Two plates connected to wires were placed on Pikachu, and the electricity began to be absorbed.

"Pikachu! No!" Ash exclaimed, only able to watch helplessly from the sidelines.

"Um, guys, Pikachu is getting stronger," Jessie said, pointing to the yellow mouse.

"Huh?" James and Meowth asked, glancing out the window at him.

A grin grew on Pikachu's face. "Pika pika!" He exclaimed, holding his hands up, "CHUUUUUUU!" He released tons of energy, sending thousands of volts into the robot. Bolts of electricity flew everywhere, causing Ash to fall to his stomach to avoid the bolts, and May to hide behind Birch. With a loud boom, the robot blew up, sending Team Rocket blasting off.

Pikachu landed in the grass, glaring at Team Rocket as they flew away. Suddenly, his legs wobbled and gave in, he fell over, passing out.

* * *

"Good news, everyone," Professor Birch said, "It looks like Pikachu is recovering."

The four had returned to the lab, and Birch quickly checked on Pikachu's electricity levels. "It looks like that robot absorbed all his excess electricity," he explained.

Ash stroked the knocked out Pikachu's fur. "So will he be okay?" He asked, looking at the professor hopefully.

Birch smiled and nodded. "He just needs to rest, and then he'll be in tip top shape," He announced. Ash let out a sigh of relief. The boy turned around to see the familiar brunette with a red bandana, tampering with a device on the other side of the room.

"Hey, I never got your name," Ash said, causing the girl to jump and stop messing around with what she was touching. She put on a toothy grin and held her hands behind her back.

"Oh, um... It's May." She stammered.

"Oh, nice to meet you." Ash said, smiling and holding up his hand for a handshake. May looked at the hand hesitantly before removing one from her back and shaking it.

"Ah, that reminds me, May, you still need to get your first Pokémon," Birch said, rubbing his hands together and walking across the room. He opened a drawer and pulled out three Pokéballs. He opened the three balls, releasing the Pokémon inside. "May, I'd like for you to meet Mudkip, Treecko, and Torchic."

"Oh wow, those are so cool," Ash said, bending forward and setting his hands on his knees.

May shifted a little away from the small green Pokémon on the ground. "That one's creepy," she said, pointing to Treecko. The grass type slumped a bit at being rejected.

"Aww, don't be like that, May." Ash said, kneeling next to the Treecko and stroking it's head, "It's a cool Pokémon." Ash's comment caused Treecko to stand up straight again.

"This one is really cute," May said, kneeling down next to Mudkip, patting its head like Ash did to Treecko.

"Torchic!" The last Pokémon chirped, angry that it had yet to be noticed. It hopped over to May and began to nuzzle its head into her leg.

"Aww, this one is adorable." May said, turning her attention away from Mudkip, and picking up Torchic. "You'd be a great partner in crime!"

Ash and Birch looked at her oddly as she said that. "Oh, I'm just joking!" May explained, waving them off.

"So you want Torchic, May?" Birch asked, picking up the three Pokéballs from earlier.

May looked down at the Mudkip and then back at Torchic. She thought for a moment before a sly grin grew across her face.

"Yes, I want Torchic." she said. Birch smiled and handed her Torchic's Pokéball. As he returned Mudkip, May winked at the small blue Pokémon.

"Treecko!" Treecko exclaimed, using his speed and agility to dodge the red ray sent to return him. He swung around and hid behind Ash.

"Treecko? What's wrong?" Birch asked, kneeling down next to the Pokémon. Treecko spoke a few words before Birch stood up. "I think Treecko is growing fond of you, Ash." he explained.

"What?" Ash asked with surprise.

Birch gestured down to Treecko, "Well, when May rejected Treecko, you took immediate action to comfort it." Birch said. "It's simple acts of kindness that will cause a connection to form."

May glanced around briefly before speaking up. "Um, so I got my Pokémon, is that all?" She asked.

Birch thought for a moment before walking over to a cabinet and pulling out two red devices. "Here is your Pokédex," he said, handing one device to May and the other to Ash. "That's all I have to give you, May. You're free to go."

May bowed politely and turned away to leave. As Birch turned back to Ash, she slowly reached out for Mudkip's Pokéball.

"Hey, May," Ash said. May stiffened and drew her hand back. "It was nice meeting you." he said.

May relaxed a little and nodded. "Nice meeting you as well," she said. With that, she swiped the Pokéball while no one was looking and hurried out.

Birch handed Treecko's Pokéball to Ash before stepping back and smiling. "I'm giving Treecko to you." he said.

"What?!" Ash said in surprised. "Professor Birch... Are you sure?" he asked, slowly holding up the ball the Treecko called home.

Birch nodded. "It's like I said, Treecko has come to like you." he said. "I get a feeling you two will become great friends."

Ash knelt down on the ground before Treecko, looking the Pokémon in its large eyes. "Is that true, Treecko?" Ash asked. "Do you really want to come with me?"

Treecko's eyes brightened and it nodded. A smile grew across Ash's face. "Well if you don't object, neither do I!" he exclaimed.

Professor Birch's grin grew and he turned to put away Mudkip's Pokéball, when he realized it was gone. "Joshua... Did you put away Mudkip's Pokéball?" he called out.

"I haven't touched it, sir!" Joshua called out from another room. He quickly came into the room upon the professor's call.

Birch let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, I don't see it around here... Where did I put it?" he thought aloud. His gaze crossed the unconscious Pikachu, who was still hooked up to his machine.

"Ash, you and Pikachu go rest." Birch said, picking up the Pikachu and carrying him over to Ash. "Joshua and I will continue to look for Mudkip's Pokéball."

Joshua gestured for Ash to follow him before walking out of the room. "I'll show you to a bed room." he said.

* * *

The dark room was quiet. Not a sound could be heard aside from the faint snoring of the sleeping boy, who sat on the edge of the bed, his head resting on the mattress. In the bed, his Pikachu laid asleep, occasionally mumbling a "Pika" or two.

Except for the faint light bleeding through the shade over the window, the room was dark. The entrance to the room was closed and the lights were off.

There was a click, and the doorknob jiggled as it slowly turned. The knob fully turned, the door was slowly pushed open, causing the aged hinges to whine and creak as the gap between the door and the doorframe widened. A shadowy figure squeezed through the slim gap and crept further into the room. It glanced at the sleeping Ash and Pikachu before glancing around at the surroundings.

The room was filled with lab equipment, similar to that in a Pokémon Center. It was obvious that it was all used to heal badly hurt Pokémon. What caught the shadowy figure's eye was the backpack placed on the ground. With a smirk, it quietly unzipped the backpack, and began to rummage through the contents inside. There were Pokéballs, medicine for minor injuries, soap, extra underwear, Ash's Pokédex, but nothing of value.

"Hrmmm," Ash groaned. He began to stir, and a few seconds later, his eyes fluttered open. He detected movement in the dark room, and heard shuffling. In a quick motion, he reached out and turned on the lamp on the bed stand.

With another click, he turned on the lamp, and was surprised to see May sitting in a seat across the room. "M-May?" he stammered sleepily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sat up straight.

May jumped a little and glanced at the door before putting her finger to her lips. "Shh..." She hushed.

Ash looked at her in confusion. "Professor Birch can't know I- I mean- I don't want to wake up Pikachu," she whispered.

"Oh..." Ash said, lowering his voice. "So what are you doing here? I thought you left..."

May glanced at his backpack and then at Pikachu. "I just wanted to check up on Pikachu." she said quietly. "The poor thing..."

Ash smiled and nodded. "That's really thoughtful of you, thanks." he told her. He motioned for her to scoot the chair over next to him.

May frowned, glancing at the door once again. She held back a sigh and stood up, lifting her chair and carrying it over next to Pikachu's bedside.

Ash sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "So are you going to start challenging gyms?" he asked, he reached out and grabbed his cap off the bed stand, putting it on his head.

"Um..." May began, looking up at the ceiling as she thought. "I um... Just plan on traveling." she said.

Ash raised a brow, "But you just got your first Pokémon." he said. "You should collect gym badges. It's really fun."

"Are they of any value?" May asked, leaning towards Ash.

Ash shrugged. "You can't sell them... But they're your ticket into the league." he explained.

"Oh..." May sighed in disappointment, "I think I'll just travel... I have... Things I want to see."

"Like what?" Ash asked in confusion.

May twiddled her thumbs and looked down at the floor. "Diamonds... Emeralds... Crystals..." May listed. "Priceless valuables, things of great value."

Ash squinted at her. "How come? It doesn't sound very fulfilling." he said, scratching his head.

May sighed dreamily as she thought about it. "They fascinate me." she said.

Ash snapped his fingers and his face brightened. "Hey! We could travel together," he suggested, "I have my gym battles and we'll see all sorts of cool things."

...

...

...

"Nah, we'd slow each other down." May said, looking away from the boy. He seemed nice. She didn't want him to get caught in her lifestyle.

Ash sweat dropped, "Uh... What?" he asked, wondering what she meant.

May stood up and walked over to the window, she tugged at the string that controlled the position of the blind and opened the window, letting light come in. "I'm traveling by bike," she explained, pointing to her bicycle. "Plus, I wouldn't want to hinder you from getting gym badges because of my interests."

Ash sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right." he agreed. "It was just a suggestion."

With light now flowing into the room, Pikachu's eyes opened, stirring from the open window. "Pika pika?" he asked.

"Hey, buddy," Ash said, picking up the mouse from his bed and holding him in his lap. "You're looking good as new!"

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped happily.

May smiled and walked over to the mouse, ruffling the fur on his forehead. "Well, now that I see Pikachu is better, I'm going to head out." she said.

"For real this time?" Ash asked jokingly.

May laughed and nodded. "Yeah, for real," she chuckled, "Nice meeting you."

Ash smiled and nodded. "Yeah, nice meeting you as well."

* * *

Ash watched May ride away on her bike before walking back into the lab. Birch and his assistant were still looking for Mudkip's Pokéball. "It's simply nowhere to be found." Birch said in amazement. "I wonder if it escaped out of its Pokéball and ran out of the lab," he pondered.

"Well we better get out there and look for it, then." his assistant said, taking off his lab coat.

"Do you need my help, Professor?" Ash asked, walking into the room.

Professor Birch shook his head. "No, it's got to be around here somewhere." Birch said. "Don't worry, we'll find him. Go ahead and head on to Petalburg City, that's the closest city nearby," he said.

Ash nodded and thanked the professor before heading out of the lab. "Alright Hoenn," he said enthusiastically, "look out, because Ash Ketchum is here!"

* * *

**This is one of those "What if?" kind of fics. In this case "What if May had a bad habit of stealing things when she met Ash?" It's an interesting concept that I've been wanting to write forever. So it begins! I hope you guys are as excited about this fic as I am! :D**

**The plan for this story is to focus less on action and Pokémon battles and rather on the relationship Ash and May develop. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. **

**~The Shiny Gengar**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Smooth Criminal**

* * *

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash exclaimed. "Treecko! Jump and use Pound!"

The trainer and his two Pokémon found themselves facing off with a Taillow. The flying Pokémon had attacked them before flying away with some of Ash's Pokémon food. After a long chase, the trio caught up to the Taillow to find the food was long gone. The Pokémon had left them nothing but a dry, empty can and a few small crumbs.

In anger, Pikachu and Treecko attacked the flying type. Ash found himself impressed with the wild Pokémon's determination and strength as it defended itself against his two Pokémon. He was now determined to catch it.

The Taillow was putting up a good fight, and had broken through three of Ash's Pokéballs.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he charged up for his Thunderbolt attack. With a shout, he shot bright electricity at Taillow. The super effective move hit the bird and was enough to stun him for a mere second. Treecko dashed up a large tree and swung around on the branches before launching himself high into the air. He flipped and slammed his tail into the stunned Taillow.

The attack sent the dark blue Pokémon rocketing downward and into the ground. With a loud thud, the bird hit the ground and uplifted tons of dirt.

Ash unclipped an empty Pokéball from his belt and enlarged it. He smirked with confidence and threw the ball into the dust cloud. He heard the red and white sphere hit the Pokémon. As the dust settled, he could see the ball shaking as the Taillow struggled to escape.

***Ding***

His eyes widened with excitement. He smiled as he picked up the fist sized device and tossed it into the air. "All right!" He said happily. He caught the Pokéball and spun around three hundred and sixty degrees. "I caught-" He held out the Pokéball for the world to see. "-a Taillow!"

...

...

...

"Pika pi..." Pikachu mumbled, embarrassed by his trainers energetic show. He and Treecko sweat dropped.

* * *

Ash needed to find a Pokémon Center to heal his newly caught Pokémon. He returned Treecko and ran down the route to the next residential area: Petalburg City.

"Please let there be a Pokémon Center." He panted as the city came into view. Although he wasn't under as much pressure as he had been when Pikachu had been hurt, he wanted to heal Taillow as quickly as he could.

He entered the city and continued his dash down the sidewalk next to a busy road. He slowed to a stop when he saw a large sign that appeared to be a map. He walked over to the sign to find out where he was and the location of the Pokémon Center. "Let's see, we came in on the east entrance, and the Pokémon Center is south." He muttered, tapping his chin as he examined the map closely. "We been to take a left on Maple Street and-..."

His train of though was cut off when he heard a familiar voice. His head perked up and he stood up straight. He took a few steps backwards and looked around for the source of the voice.

"Oh! And there's a Mexican buffet! I do love some good Mexican..."

Ash walked forward and peered around the map he had been scanning to see a familiar brunette examining an index of the buildings and businesses on the other side.

"May?"

The brunette stiffened at the sound of her name and looked over to see Ash looking at her:

"Oh... Hey... Ash..." she said slowly.

It was then Ash noticed her Torchic was perched on her shoulder, looking at him innocently. What really caught his attention was the Mudkip on the girl's other shoulder.

"Mud?" The blue water type asked.

"Hey..." Ash said, squinting at the water type. "That's a Mudkip..."

May smiled innocently and scratched Mudkip under his chin. "I know. Isn't he adorable?" she asked.

Ash exchanged suspicious glances with Pikachu and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where did you get it?" he asked.

"Oh! Um..." May began, her gaze turning upward as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Err... There's a man... Who... Uh... Breeds Mudkips..." she said, twisting her heel into the sidewalk.

"Well Birch lost his Mudkip right after you left." Ash said, taking a step towards May. She subconsciously took a small step backward away from him.

"R-really?" she stammered. "That's t-too bad... The poor thing."

Ash stopped and raised a brow. "What?" he asked.

May sighed and clasped her hands together. "It breaks my heart to hear a poor Pokémon has been lost." she said. Ash could have sworn she shed a tear.

"Yeah... It's too bad..." he said, taking a step back.

"Especially Mudkips," May continued. "If you haven't already heard, I really like them."

"Kip?" Mudkip asked in confusion. "Kip muuudkip mud mudkip?"

"Shhhh," May shushed quickly, pulling out two Pokéballs. "I know, I'm sad too." She said to Mudkip as she returned both her two Pokémon, who both looked a bit confused.

...

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"It's just such a coincidence that you would get a Mudkip right after-" Ash began, but was cut short when May quickly reached out and grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her.

"Hey! I have an idea!" May exclaimed. Ash quickly caught himself and regained his footing after May pulled him. "I hear there's a great Mexican restaurant around here! Would you like to have lunch there with me?"

Ash stood up straight and raised a brow. He once again exchanged glances with Pikachu. The sound of food was something that always appealed to him. He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

Never in all his travels had Ash seen a girl eat so much. Misty would have gagged at the high pile of plates May had cleaned off. He was able to eat about the same as the brunette sitting before him, but he would have never guess it was possible for a female to eat as much as May had in one sitting, especially considering her thin figure.

_How does that not bulge?_Ash thought to himself, examining May's stomach, which was the same size as it had been when she started eating. He didn't see how all the food she had eaten could be compressed into her stomach without showing even slightly.

"Is something wrong?" May asked. She had taken off her black and white gloves and was licking the oily remains of the food on the tips of her fingers. She watched as Ash eyed her.

"Hm? No." Ash said, snapping back to reality. "My mind was wandering off."

May giggled and fluffed her hair. "Are my looks getting the best of you?" she asked.

Ash raised a brow. "No." he said plainly.

...

"Oh." May said, bringing her focus back to licking her fingers.

"Don't take that the wrong way, though." Ash said, grabbing a napkin and using it to wipe his hands. "You're not ugly or anything."

May snorted in amusement at what Ash said. "Okay, thanks." she muttered, also grabbing a napkin to clean her hands.

Ash sighed and looked down at Pikachu, who was lying in a small pile of now empty ketchup bottles. "Kaaaa." the mouse groaned in satisfaction.

"So where are you headed next?" Ash asked, tossing his now crumpled napkin on the table.

May dabbed her mouth with her napkin before also setting it down. "Rustboro City." she said. "There are supposed to be some really cool rocks and treasures there. It's the home of a rock type gym leader after all."

Ash took off his cap and ran his hand through his messy, black hair. "A gym in Rustboro? I'll have to look into that." he said. "Do you know if there's a gym here in Petalburg?"

May simply shrugged at his question. "I don't know." she admitted. "I'm not from around here."

Ash raised a brow and rested his elbows on the table. "Oh? Where are you from?" he questioned.

May remained quiet for a minute, watching Ash. "I used to travel around with my father." she said. "But recently we parted ways so I could go on my Pokémon journey."

Ash nodded and picked up his glass of water, taking a swig before setting it back down on the table. "Got it." he said. "I bet you're excited."

May smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah." she admitted. "It'll be interesting being out on my own."

With that she sighed and stood up. "Well, Ash," she began. "It was great seeing you again."

Ash grinned in response. "Yeah, hopefully our paths cross again sometime." he said. Pikachu grinned and nodded in agreement.

...

"Yeah... Maybe." May muttered. "See you later." With that, she walked away and out of sight.

Right after May left, the waitress walked up to the table and handed Ash the bill, which had both his and May's meals on them. The boy looked up in the direction May had disappeared in. "That little..." he began to mutter, but stopped himself.

With a sigh, he paid the bill and left.

* * *

After spending the day exploring the city, Ash retired to the Pokémon Center and checked in for a room. "Hey, is there a gym here by any chance?" he asked the Nurse Joy standing behind the counter.

The woman smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, but the Petalburg Gym has been closed for years." she said, her hair bounced a little as she spoke. "Rustboro has one, though. It's just west of Petalburg."

Ash sighed in disappointment before thanking the Nurse Joy and strolling down the hall to his room. He reached his door and pulled out his key, using it to unlock the door.

With a twist of the doorknob and a push, the door swung open revealing his single bed bedroom. He sighed and slid his backpack off his shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. He walked over to the window and slid it open, letting a cool breeze sweep into the room.

With that, he flopped down onto his bed. It felt so weird staying at a Pokémon Center by himself. He was used to having some other person aside from Pikachu going places with him. After several minutes of silently staring at the ceiling, his eyelids began to grow heavy. He blinked a few times and yawned before shutting them. Within a few seconds, he was asleep.

* * *

***Crash***

Ash's eyes opened as he turned his head in the direction of the open window upon hearing a loud crashing sound. From what he could tell, a glass object had been broken. Checking the clock on his Pokédex, he found he had been asleep for around an hour. Figuring he had nothing better to do than check out what was going on, he lifted himself up from the bed and walked over to the window. He looked on with surprise when he saw a small drug store that sat next to the Pokémon Center had a shattered window. There was no broken glass outside in the grass, so someone had broken in from the outside to get in.

Ash looked over at Pikachu, who was fast asleep at the foot of the bed. The sound of the breaking window must not have been enough to have woken him up.

Ash turned back to the drug store and sighed. He hopped out of the Pokémon Center through the window and began to quietly run towards the shattered opening in the building ahead. He came to a stop a couple feet before the window and peaked inside. Not seeing anything, he crawled through the opening and into the building.

_It's probably Team Rocket up to no good. _He thought to himself as he began to look around. He heard movement to his right. Turning and trying to see as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he began to look down the aisles of the store.

He froze upon seeing a lone, shadowy figure bending down looking at some of the items on the shelf. His eyes widened as he watched the figure grab something off the shelf and stuff it into a sack that was slung over its shoulder.

Ash silently crept behind the oblivious figure before reaching out and grabbing the black mask covering the person's face. With a strong tug, he threw it off.

Upon finding its mask had been removed, the figure swung its fist around in an attempt to attack whoever was behind it. Ash quickly reacted and managed to grab the wrist of the figure, blocking the blow.

The two's eyes met and widened with surprise.

"May?!" Ash exclaimed, backing up slightly. He had a terribly shocked expression on his face.

May looked around, finding she was caught. "H-hey Ash..." she muttered nervously. "What's up?"

"What's up?!" Ash asked angrily, taking a step towards May. The girl took a step back, but found herself backed up against the shelf. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Um... Seeing the sights?" May said innocently.

"Give me a break!" Ash exclaimed. He reached out and grabbed the shelf on either side of May, completely blocking her from escaping. "You really did steal Birch's Mudkip, didn't you?."

Suddenly, May smirked. "Oh my," she said with a sly grin. Ash could feel her breath on his skin. "You're not the type who's afraid to get close."

Ash raised a brow. "What? What does that have to do with-"

"Shhhh..." May hushed him, laying her gloved index finger on his lips. "You know... I have a thing for guys with hats..."

"What?" Ash asked. "Stop trying to change the topic!"

"I've been a bad girl..." May continued in a hushed voice, completely ignoring what Ash said. She pressed herself against him. "Maybe I should-"

"What the-? Get off me!" Ash said, shoving May away from him. "Yeah, you've been bad. Now I'm turning you in."

May scowled. _Seducing is always supposed work on guys._ she thought to herself as Ash yelled at her._What's wrong with this guy? Time for plan B._

May's bottom lip began to quiver and quiet whimpers began to escape her mouth. Her legs gave away and she collapsed on the floor, her chest now heaving as her whimpers turned into sobs. "I-I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I-I just... I can't..."

Ash's stern gaze softened upon seeing the seemingly helpless girl cry on the cold tile floor. He looked around awkwardly as she continued before bending down next to her.

"Hey..." he said gently. "It's going to be okay."

May peaked in his direction and managed to halt her sobbing for a moment. "I-It is?" she asked, a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

Ash smiled and nodded.

May smirked. "Good." she said. Her elbow went jabbing into Ash's gut, sending the boy falling backward onto his seat. He hit the ground with a thud and a grunt.

With the precious seconds she had, May took off running down the aisle she and Ash were in. She made a turn and headed in the direction of the window.

"Hey!" Ash said as he recovered from the blow. He shook his head and hopped to his feet. "Get back here!"

He took off in the same direction May had gone. As he ran out of the aisle, he glanced in the direction of the broken window to see May standing a few feet away with a small shopping cart. With a shove, she sent the four wheeled cart in Ash's direction. It collided into him and knocked him back off his feet.

May ran to the broken window and dove through it. She rolled back to her feet and began to make her get away.

Ash growled in annoyance and ran to the window. Not stopping, he slapped his hand down on the sill and used the momentum from running to leap through the window and out of the building. His feet hit the slippery grass and he made a mad dash in the direction he had seen May go.

He reached the front of the drug store to find May kicking up the kickstand on her bike before quickly pedaling away.

"Stop!" Ash exclaimed. Not giving up the chase, he ran after the girl on the bike despite her obvious advantage. She made a quick turn into a dirt pathway leading into the forest, hoping to lose him amongst the shrubs and greenery.

She pedaled with all her might, her lungs feeling like they were going to explode as she desperately rode through the forest. She glanced over her shoulder to see if she had lost her raven haired pursuer. A smirk appeared on her face when she found he was no where in sight.

_I lost him!_She thought, letting out a sigh of relief. She turned around to look ahead just in time to watch her bike fly off the dirt path, which turned sharply. She let out a screech as she lost control of the bicycle and rode downhill. She rode into a bush, causing the tires on her bike to get caught in the branches. But as the bike stopped and flipped over, May kept going and was thrown into the air. She yelped again as she watched the ground fly by below her and grunted as she hit it hard.

The momentum from the fall and the fact that she was on the side of a hill caused her to roll uncontrollably downward. Her arms and legs were scratched as she scraped up against rocks and sticks in the ground.

Suddenly, her body collided with a tree. The impact hurt incredibly but was enough to stop her out of control tumble.

...

There she laid, in the dirt and leaves. Her body was scratched up and bruised from the unpleasant trip down the slope. Her chest quickly moved up and down as she attempted to catch her breath. Her eyes began to water from the burning sensation shooting through her body. Down her cheek ran a tear.

This time, her sobs were genuine.

* * *

Ash slowed his pace as he journeyed deeper into the forest he had seen May venture in. He found himself out of breath and weary. He bent over and laid his hands on his knees has he attempted to catch his breath, looking around at his surroundings.

"I... Probably... Lost her..." he panted in between breaths. He looked down at the dirt road below him and saw the tire tracks left behind by May's bike. His eyes followed the marks as it went down the trail, but stopped upon seeing where they led. He walked up to a place where the dirt path turned, but noticed the tire tracks didn't follow it and rather went down a rather steep slope.

He looked around one last time before following the tracks down the slope. It wasn't long before he saw May's bike in the bushes, it didn't appear to be in good condition.

He swallowed hard, wondering about the fate of the sapphire eyed thief. He took a deep breath and continued down the slope, finding he no longer was being led by tire tracks. He froze upon hearing a muffled cry. He looked around and followed the sound until he found May, who was laying under a tree. He watched as the brunette sobbed.

"May?" he finally asked. The girl looked up at him for few silent seconds before laying her head back down. Ash simply stood there and watched her, unsure if she was actually crying or it was just another one of her tricks.

Ash examined her a little more closely, noticing the bruises and scratches spotting her arms and legs. _She would have to be really stupid to try the same trick twice._Ash thought. He could tell May was intelligent, even if she was a crook.

"Hey..." Ash said, approaching May and kneeling down next to her. "Are you okay?"

May looked up at him with watery eyes. "No..." she said.

Ash, concluding that she was actually hurt, laid a hand on her right arm. Gently, he grasped it and attempted to help her back up to her feet. As May tried to stand, she let out a yelp and crumbled back down to the ground.

"Ow..." she moaned.

Ash let go of the girl and sat down beside her. He pitied her, despite her poor ethics and morals. She was truly hurt, which caused her more delicate side to come forth. He couldn't leave her there on the ground, but she wasn't going to be moving too much for a while.

Seeing he didn't seem to have much more of a choice, Ash made himself comfortable on the ground, laying down next to May.

"What? You're not going to go fetch the cops?" May asked sarcastically.

"No." was Ash's reply. "There are wild Pokémon out here. Who knows what could happen to you while I'm gone."

As if cued, the howl of a Poochyena could be heard in the distance.

"Oh," May grunted in response. She rolled onto her back next to Ash.

"So you're a crook." Ash said. His eyes were locked on the twinkling stars hanging in the sky. "You live by stealing from others."

May swallowed, but didn't look in Ash's direction. "Stealing is all I know..." she said sadly. "That's the lifestyle I was raised in."

Ash let out a sigh and rolled his head to look at May. He remembered what May had previously said about traveling with her father. "Your father is a criminal as well?" he asked.

May closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah..." she whispered. "Big time..."

Ash raised a brow. "Does he work for Team Rocket or someone?" he asked.

May shook her head. "No... He's an independent crook." she told him. "He'd only do something for Team Rocket if they paid him enough."

Ash nodded in understanding. "Do you work with him?" he asked.

May once again shook her head. "No." she said coldly. "I'm on my own now."

...

"Listen," Ash began, rolling onto his side to face May. "I believe that there's good somewhere in everyone."

May finally turned her head and looked at him.

"I don't want to have to turn you in, May. I really don't." Ash admitted. He took off his cap and ran his hand through his hair. "If you're willing to give up your life of crime and stop stealing, I'll let you go."

May's eyes widened. "R-really?" she asked in disbelief.

Ash smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but you have to promise." he told her.

May swallowed hard again and nodded. "Yeah, I promise." she said with a slight smile.

Ash grinned. "Pinkie promise?" he asked, holding out his right pinkie.

"What? Are you a four year old?" May asked, looking at Ash's pinkie.

Ash sighed and rolled his eyes, setting his hand back down. "Never mind." he grumbled, laying back down on his back.

...

"Hey, Ash," May began, turning her gaze back up to the starry sky. "You're pretty cool."

Ash couldn't help but smile at her statement. "Thanks," he said. "You're pretty cool too."

"Yeah right." May replied. "Like you'd ever think that."

"No, I do." Ash protested, looking back at May. "Even if you've done things that I disagree with, that doesn't mean I dislike you or something."

May smiled, feeling somewhat happy to hear him say that. "Thank you, Ash." was all she said.

* * *

About an hour later, Ash was fast asleep next to May on the ground. May looked over to check and make sure the boy was truly out before quietly getting up. She looked around at her surroundings before silently heading back up the slope she had tumbled down earlier.

"Sorry, Ash." she whispered as she broke into a run, disappearing from sight.

* * *

**Messed up uploading this chapter earlier xD Thanks for pointing out that out Strength. I feel dumb. :P**

**~The Shiny Gengar**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Surrender, Pity, and Other Sad Things**

* * *

Petalburg City was covered with a thick blanket of fog. From the city, cars honking their horns and the engines of automobiles could be heard through the thick and wet air.

As the morning sounds met Ash's ears, waking him from his sleep, only one thought crossed his mind.

_Ow._

Sleeping on the hard ground was hardly rewarding, leaving the body with nothing but aches and pain. Ash twisted his spine a bit to feel a relieving cracking noise sounding from his back as he let out the kinks stiffening his body. He let out a yawn and stretched out his limbs, finding that wet, dewy leaves were sticking to his skin. Blinking a few times, the boy looked around at his surroundings in confusion.

His confused expression disappeared as he recalled where he was and memories from the previous night flooded back into his brain. Grumbling, he found his hat on the ground, and placed it back on his head. It was then that he noticed the spot where May had been previously lying was now nothing but a pile of leaves. May was nowhere in sight.

_She left._ Ash concluded. _I hope she sticks to her promise._

Ash slowly stood up, brushing off the damp leaves from his clothing with his hands. He sighed in distaste as he looked up the steep and now slippery slope he was going to have to climb up.

The slippery, wet leaves made it no easy task to scale the slope. As Ash climbed up, he saw May's bike still stuck in the bush. With the light of the sun that made it through the fog, he could see the bike was badly damaged. The wheels had been bent out of their circular shape and the handle bars had been completely detached from the bicycle.

He eventually reached the top of the slope, finding himself back on the trail he had been chasing May on the previous night. He followed the dirt path until he was led out of the forest. He then made his way back to the Pokémon Center, wearily walking past the automatic glass doors and down the hall to his room. After fumbling his hand around in his pocket for a second, it dawned on him that he had left his key in his room and that he had to get in through the window.

_This girl has been causing me so much trouble._Ash thought to himself grumpily as he made his way back out of the Pokémon Center and around the building to his window, which was still open.

With a sigh, Ash climbed through the open passage and into his room, finding everything was how he had left it and that Pikachu was still asleep at the foot of the bed. Ash closed the window before looking through the glass at the shattered window at the store several yards away.

_Someone isn't going to be pleased._he thought. Turning back to his room, he took off his jacket and stepped into the bathroom, preparing for a shower.

He couldn't understand May. How could anybody be so selfish as to go as far as damage property in order to break into a building and steal from the place? How could she have such a lack of morals? The thought kind of aggravated him and he found himself in a bad mood.

_She said her father was a criminal, and that stealing was all she knew._ Ash thought as he showered. _How cruel could a father be to raise a poor child into such a life style?_

Something about the warm shower calmed the boy's nerves and allowed him to relax. He dried himself off and put on a fresh set of clothes, finding himself in a better mood and back to his cheery self.

As he stepped out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, he found Pikachu was now awake, and standing up at the end of the bed tiredly.

Ash grinned and lifted the mouse up, setting the tired rodent on his shoulder. "Man, you are not going to believe what happened last night."

* * *

The path to Rustboro City was long but peaceful. As Ash traveled down the path to his next destination, Treecko walked beside him to stretch his legs while Taillow flew above.

The morning fog had yet to lift, and the air was cool, sending occasional chilly breezes that tickled Ash's skin. With a shiver, the boy crossed his arms over his chest and rubbed them with his hands.

Throughout the day the fog never lifted or blew away. A sailor Ash had passed by during his walk said something about the thick fog coming off from the north, out in the ocean. Ash found it peculiar that the weather was so cool because he had always heard Hoenn was known for its warm climate.

"Taillow!" Ash's newest flying type called out from the air, flapping his wings and speeding forward. Ash exchanged glances with Pikachu and Treecko before dashing forward after the bird type, wondering what he seemed to be so excited about.

After a few minutes of running, Ash found himself standing at the entrance of Rustboro. Although fog continued to block his view of the city before him, he could hear the sounds of cars and sirens ringing in the air.

_Sirens?_ Ash thought. _I swear, if they're because of May..._he quickly shook his head and snapped back to his main focus: gyms. He was going to have to trust that May made the right decision and turned a new leaf.

He returned both Taillow amd Treecko and began to make his way down the sidewalk, trying to find the rock type gym he had heard about in Petalburg. The fog wasn't going to make things easy for him.

As he looked around for the gym, he found himself standing in front of a large museum. Hanging on the front of the buildings were ads showing off various things the museum had up for display.

"Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds..." Ash listed off before looking at Pikachu. "It sounds interesting. Should we have a look?"

Pikachu grinned and nodded, displaying his interest in the museum as well. Ash smiled and ran up the steps of the building before racing inside.

The building was busy and bustling with people eager to see the rare and valuable stones. As Ash made his way around, he was constantly bumping into and brushing shoulders of other people. The museum was quite large, and as a marketing ploy, the three gems were spread around the museum, forcing visitors to take notice to the various other exhibits and walk through small gift shops around the building.

After what seemed like ages of fighting through the crowds, Ash and Pikachu finally made it to the room where one of the gems was being held. The room was even more packed with people and was littered with security guards, all who stood tall with straight faces and their arms folded across their chest.

Ash squeezed his way through the crowd, which just grew denser the closer he got to the display. He finally reached it and was able to clearly see a sparkling, blue sapphire.

The boy's eyes widened with admiration as the polished gem came into view. Its spotless and glossy edges were astonishing. Its stunning beauty left Ash at a loss for words.

_It's… beautiful…_Ash thought, falling into a trance as his seemed to become lost in the stone's luster. He would have been completely content with standing there gazing at the gem all day.

"Alright buddy, you had your turn. Step aside."

Ash barely had time to react much less realize the voice was referring to him. A hand was laid on his shoulder before pushing him to the side and deeper into the crowd.

His view of the glamorous sapphire became obscured by the crowd, as groups of people a head taller than him stepped in front of him.

Deciding to turn around and head back out, Ash once again fought against the crowd to make his way out of the museum. Considering the size of the building and the people in it, he would have no chance of reaching the other two gems before the museum closed. Letting out a sigh of relief as he took in the cool, outside air, Ash sat himself down on the steps leading to the museum entrance. Pikachu let out a tired sigh and sat down beside him.

"That was a really beautiful sapphire." Ash said, looking down at Pikachu with a smile.

Pikachu grinned and nodded in agreement. "Pi pikachu!" he said cheerfully.

Ash smirked a little. "It kind of reminded me of May." he said. "About her obsession for rare gems and-..."

That suddenly made sense to him.

_"I think I'll just travel... I have... Things I want to see."_

_"Like what?" Ash asked in confusion._

_May twiddled her thumbs and looked down at the floor. "Diamonds... Emeralds... Crystals..." May listed. "Priceless valuables, things of great value."_

_Ash squinted at her. "How come? It doesn't sound very fulfilling." he said, scratching his head._

_May sighed dreamily as she thought about it. "They fascinate me." she said._

Ash's brow furrowed. May couldn't have had the intention of coming to Rustboro City to steal those three gems, did she?

_"So where are you headed next?" Ash asked, tossing his now crumpled napkin on the table._

_May dabbed her mouth with her napkin before also setting it down. "Rustboro City." she said. "There are supposed to be some really cool rocks and treasures there. It's the home of a rock type gym leader after all."_

_No..._ Ash thought. _May is a small time thief. She would never go so far as to..._

Ash frowned. _... Or... Would she...?_

May was full of surprises, it seemed like every time they met she showed him some side of herself he would have never expected a girl like her to have. Upon their first encounter, he would have never guessed there was a dark secret behind the seemingly sweet female she appeared to be.

_The Thunder Stone, Birch's Mudkip, that bike was probably stolen as well._ Ash to himself. _Back at Birch's lab, when I found her in our room "Checking up on Pikachu," who knows why she was really in there?_

Ash took off his backpack and set it down in his lap. He unzipped it and began to rummage through his things to make sure everything was there.

_Maybe I should just stick around the museum tonight in case she breaks her promise and tries to steal those gems._he thought, slowly realizing how gullible he had been to believe she might actually keep her promise. She wasn't even there in the forest when he woke up that morning.

Ash sighed and zipped up his backpack. "Pika pika?" Pikachu asked curiously, a worried look on his face as he watched his troubled trainer.

"I just have a lot on my mind..." Ash explained, taking off his cap and running his hand through his hair. "This whole May thing is getting to me."

* * *

Why was he here? It was late, dark, and still surprisingly cold. Ash was beginning to question his sanity. May wasn't his responsibility. She wasn't his problem. Yet there he was, standing in front of the museum to make sure she didn't try anything, and that if she did, he could stop her.

He felt some obligation. It was always in his nature to help out, to fix problems. He hadn't even contacted the police. He was planning on handling this whole thing himself, and he didn't know why.

_Why?_he asked himself as he paced back and forth, waiting for some senses to be knocked into him so he could retire at the Pokémon Center.

As time slowly went by, Ash kept himself entertained by walking, thinking, and fiddling around with his new Pokédex. Pikachu had fallen asleep on the steps to the museum.

The air was completely silent, and the ocean fog still lingered on the salty air. The city lights and mist blotched out the stars, but kept the street lights fairly well illuminated.

That silence was broken by the sounds of alarms ringing from within the museum. Ash quickly turned his attention to the building, and Pikachu woke up. Although he would have admitted to being bored, he had really hoped this wouldn't happen.

"You let me down, May." Ash said, adjusting his cap. "This time I'm not falling for your tricks. I'm not holding back."

Only a minute after the alarm went off, Ash glanced up at the rooftops to see the silhouette of a figure standing on the ledge of the building. Upon seeing Ash and Pikachu at the museum steps, it turned and dashed to Ash's right. "Oh no you don't." Ash murmured, not hesitating to chase after the person now hopping from rooftop to rooftop.

Ash ran on the sidewalk, his gaze constantly switching back and forth to see what was ahead of him to the figure above. Luckily, it was late and the streets were unoccupied. From Ash's shoulder Pikachu clung, watching the shadowy figure run and jump from building to building. The alarm of the museum was slowly fading away in the distance.

Ash reached the corner of the block, where two streets met to make an intersection. The figure above him turned and continued down the road, as there was no way possible for it to jump across a four lane road to the building on the other side.

Not giving up, Ash continued the chase, but he could already feel his lungs growing sore and legs getting weary.

Finally, the figure reached the end of its rooftop escape route. The building next to the one the figure was on was far too tall for the figure to make.

Ash figured the thief had yet to notice his presence, because the figure simply began to use the fire escape on the side of the building to get down.

"Hey!" Ash called out as the figure reached the bottom of the fire escape. The figure turned to him upon hearing his voice.

Ash's eyes widened when he realized the figure wasn't May. The thief was a man who was too tall and muscular to be the young and thin girl. He was completely dressed in black from head to toe. On his head was a black ski mask to conceal his face and a black backpack hung from his shoulders.

The man dashed in Ash's direction before swinging his arm and delivering a powerful blow. He hit Ash in the head causing the boy to stumble backward and fall on his seat.

Dazed, Ash simply watched helplessly as the man got away.

* * *

"That really wasn't a smart thing to go do." A concerned Nurse Joy said, placing an ice pack on Ash's left eye. After recovering from the blow, Ash and Pikachu had made their way back to the Pokémon Center. Although late, Nurse Joy was up and happened to see Ash walk into the building with a swollen eye.

She sat Ash down on the desk in the lobby and tended to him while demanding to know what had happened. Ash couldn't help but smile. _Good ol' Nurse Joy, always caring about everyone._

"How did you know that the museum was going to be broken into?" she asked as she held the ice pack on Ash's eye for him.

Ash let out a long sigh. "I was actually expecting someone else to break in, not that man." he said. He placed his own hand up to the ice pack. Seeing that he wanted to hold the ice pack himself, Nurse Joy let go of it.

"Well next time call the police or something." she said sternly, but Ash could hear concern laced in her tone. "I'm sure Officer Jenny would have been able to handle the situation just fine."

Ash nodded and stood up. He thanked her for her kindness and concern before walking away with Pikachu on his shoulder and the ice pack still on his eye. Before long, they reached their room. Ash unlocked the door and stepped inside before letting out a tired groan and flopped down on the bed. Pikachu curled up comfortably beside him.

Within a matter of seconds, he slipped away from consciousness and into his dreams.

* * *

"Oof..." Ash grunted. He was looking at himself through a mirror, examining his now black eye. "That isn't pretty."

"Piiikaaaa." Pikachu said in equal surprise.

Ash sighed before standing up straight and putting on a grin. "Hey, no need getting down about it." He said, trying to sound upbeat. "Today we're going to get our first gym badge in the Hoenn region!"

Pikachu's ears perked up and eyes sparkled with excitement. "Pi pikachu!" He cheered.

With that, he and Ash stepped out of their rented room and into the main lobby. Ash walked up to the front desk where Nurse Joy was. The woman gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as she saw Ash's far from pleasant black eye. Ash grinned and gave her back her ice pack, thanking her once again before turning around and heading out of the Pokémon Center.

As the warm sunlight and morning breeze hit Ash's face, he stretched and let out a yawn, noting that the fog was now no longer present. Looking around he found people were staring strangely at his black eye as they walked by the trainer. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the looks he was getting, he pulled the brim of his cap down to cover his eyes. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk down the sidewalk, looking around for the local gym.

Unfortunately, the lowered brim blocked most of his view of what was ahead of him, and he didn't see the feminine figure hurdling in his direction.

***Wham!***

"OOF!" Ash grunted as he once again fell on his seat. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He looked up to see what or who he had walked into and found his eyes meeting with two sapphire ones.

"May?!" He blurted out, surprised to be bumping into the girl yet again. It seemed as though fate wanted them to constantly cross paths.

May gazed at Ash with an equally incredulous look on her face. "Ash?" she asked. "What happened to your eye?"

Of course that would be the first thing she noticed.

"I had an unpleasant encounter." Ash said. He pushed himself back up to his feet before reaching down and helping May up. "I was hit in the face by a man robbing the museum."

May's eyes widened. "A man?" she asked. "Robbing the museum?"

"Yeah," Ash replied. "I was waiting out in front of the building for-... Hey, wait a minute. I'm mad at you!" he said, stepping forward and poking May. He and Pikachu both had serious looks on their faces.

"Y-you are?" May asked, putting her hands up defensively. "H-how come?"

Ash huffed and out his hands on his hips. "You left me out in the forest, the only reason I stayed there was because I thought you were badly hurt!"

"I was badly hurt!" May insisted, rubbing her right arm with her left hand. "I-it just felt better after a while."

"What have you been up to?" Ash asked suspiciously, crossing his arms and leaning a little forward.

"Uhhh, nothing..." May said innocently. She out on a toothy grin and rubbed the back of her head.

"Stop that girl! She stole my wallet!" an older man farther down the sidewalk shouted. He had obviously been left behind after May pick pocketed him. He was well aged and used a cane to walk.

Upon hearing the old man's voice, May took off in the opposite direction. She dashed past Ash and down the road. Ash took a moment to react before spinning around and chasing after the girl.

He was clearly faster when it came to running.

Seeing Ash was rapidly catching up to her, May took a turn into an alleyway. Without a second to spare, she threw open a dumpster and jumped inside. She closed the lid moments before Ash approached the alley.

The boy stopped short as he came up to the entrance of the dark space between two tall buildings. Breathing heavily from the run, he and Pikachu looked left and right as he stepped deeper inside.

To May's misfortune, she let out a sneeze, likely because of the dust coating the dumpster.

Hearing the sneeze, Ash turned to the dumpster and threw it open, disgusted to see May lying on a few garbage bags. He grabbed her by her collar and pulled her up to his face. They were so close they could feel each other's breath. May could tell Ash was angry.

"Give me the wallet." he said coldly.

Without taking her eyes off his, May reached into her fanny pack and pulled out an old, worn out wallet.

"Pikachu, go take that back to its owner." Ash told the mouse on his shoulder. Pikachu saluted and took the wallet from May's hand.

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she watched the mouse run away with the wallet. "I stole that fair and square!"

Her eyes widened with surprise as she looked back at Ash, who now looked even more ticked than before.

"You broke your promise." he growled. "I trusted you, as stupid as that was, and you let me down."

"I-I'm sorry." May said defensively.

"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to." Ash said sternly. "I hate to do this, May, but I have to turn you in."

May's eyes widened in fear. "N-no!" she stammered. "You can't! Do you know what happens to young girls in prison?"

"Can't say I really care." Ash growled. "You should have thought about that before you decided to choose a life of crime."

"No!" May exclaimed. She flailed her arms around and tried to squirm out if Ash's grip, but he held too tightly onto her collar for her to have any chance to free herself from his grasp.

Seeing she had no other choice, she slipped out of her shirt, and leapt out of the dumpster. With her top only covered by a bra, she attempted to make an escape. Ash shouted in protest from behind her, but she didn't stop. She only ran.

Pikachu rounded the corner, now without the wallet, just in time to see May trying to escape. Reacting quickly, he charged at her and leapt, head butting her in the stomach. The brunette winced at the impact and fell on her back with a grunt.

Ash had just enough time to pin her down to the ground before she could get back up.

"Let me go! Let me go!" May exclaimed, angrily kicking and squirming. Ash held her down tightly, waiting for her to tire down. "You can't take me! I can't go!" she continued, her eyes now watering and tears flowing down her cheeks as she realized she had been over powered and defeated.

"You brought this on yourself, May." Ash said sadly, pity sweeping over him as he watched the girl cry.

"Please! I'll do anything!" May pleaded, clasping her hands together. "I promise I won't do it again! I'll even pinkie promise!"

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Ash asked her. "We both know good and well that once you're out of my sight, you'll start stealing again."

"P-please..." May stammered again, this time weakly. "I-I don't care. I-I'll travel with you or something! You can watch me! Just don't make me go... P-please don't take me in..." By now the wiggling and struggling had stopped, and May had shrunk down to nothing more than a crying mess.

Ash watched her sadly. He could clearly see how badly she didn't want to go to prison. He didn't know what she meant when she had asked if he knew 'what happens to young girls in prison,' but it must have been pretty terrible. Being honest with himself, he really didn't want to turn her in. He felt it wasn't fair that her father raised her the way he had, dragging her into his problems.

_Wait..._ he thought. _I've fallen for this before._

"Oh right, let you follow me?" He asked angrily. "And then the second my back is turned you'll run or back stab me!"

"No! I promise I won't!" May insisted, still crying.

"How can I believe that?!" Ash exclaimed.

"I-I don't kno-ow!" May sobbed. "Handcuff me to you or something!"

...

That wasn't a bad idea.

* * *

Ash had returned May's red and black shirt to her, which she quickly put back on. He then put Pikachu on May's shoulder while Treecko sat on Ash's shoulder and watched the brunette carefully. Ash wasn't going to take any chances.

Not wanting to make a scene, Ash didn't deliberately drag May around, but threatened an electric shock from Pikachu if she dared step out of line.

As time passed on, May recovered from her crying fit, wiping the tears from her eyes and clearing her nose with a tissue, courtesy of Ash. Although she remained quiet, she followed Ash, seeming to accept that she was either going to have to follow his rules or be taken in.

"Um, okay, weird question..." Ash asked a police officer at the front desk. The two had entered a police station, despite May's protests. "Could I by any chance buy some handcuffs?"

...

There was an odd silence in the air as the officer behind the desk stared at Ash in disbelief. May kept her head down, hair blocking her eyes.

"Why?" the officer asked, he leaned forward in his seat, looking at Ash with curiosity.

"I have my reasons..." Ash said awkwardly.

The officer shook his head. "Sorry son," he said. "We don't sell our supplies." his attention then turned to May. "Say, do I know you from somewhere? You seem awfully familiar."

May cringed at this.

"Uh, oh, okay, sorry to bother you." Ash said quickly, already backing away from the desk and towards the door. Before the man could question further, the two were out of the police station.

"Never make me go back in there!" May exclaimed after they had exited the building. Suddenly, a worried expression crossed her face. "Um... Being that you can't buy handcuffs... you're not going to... You know..."

Ash looked at her for a moment before exchanging glances with Pikachu, who was still riding on May's shoulder, and Treecko, who was perched on his. "I don't think so." he said. "The system we've got going seems to work pretty well."

Ash suddenly yelped when May tackled him, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso. Pikachu's cheeks began to spark, thinking the girl was making an attempt to attack Ash.

But instead, May just stood there hugging him.

"Thank you," she whispered, tears once again forming in her eyes.

Ash slowly drew his hands on and gently hugged the brunette. She was so confusing.

* * *

**So my experiment on this entire fic is writing a story focusing on mostly May and Ash (I guess Pikachu as well) there's no Dawn, no Brock, no Max, and no Misty to take their spotlight. It'll be interesting to see how I like it and you guys like it. Sure I understand you would like to see some of these characters, but there are times when it isn't necessary to cram as many lovable characters into a fic as you can. Focusing on Ash and May the entire time will allow for character development and such. **

**So yeah, anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.**

**The Shiny Gengar**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Friendly**

* * *

"Nosepass is unable to battle! The victory goes to Ash and Treecko!"

Ash's eyes brightened with excitement as he realized he had won his first gym battle against the rock type gym leader, Roxanne. Although she lost, the woman had a smile on her face as she returned her fallen Nosepass, thanking the Pokémon for its efforts.

Ash returned Treecko for a rest, and the two battlers stuck their Pokéballs in their pockets and began to walk across the field towards each other. The battlefield had lost the smooth surface that it had before the match. Dirt had been uplifted and craters in the ground scattered the area.

Roxanne and Ash met in the middle of the field. She congratulated him before dropping his first Hoenn badge into his hands.

From the sidelines, May watched with Pikachu as Ash excitedly celebrated his victory. Pikachu had stayed on her shoulder the entire time, making sure she didn't make any attempt to escape.

Ash walked over to where May was sitting and showed her his badge. "See? This is what you win. Isn't it cool?" he asked.

May looked at it closely. "That's it?" she asked, sounding a bit disappointed. "Nothing too fancy."

Ash looked down at his badge before shrugging and placing it in his case. Maybe May didn't care for them, but to him, badges seemed like priceless treasure. Each and every one represented a memory of when he and his Pokémon had earned a great victory over a powerful opponent.

"Can we go now? I'm hungry." May whined. Ash looked up at her with annoyance. The girl noticed and quickly put her hands up. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude!" she said, frantically waving her hands back and forth. Last thing she wanted was Ash to get mad at her and turn her in. The boy sighed and stuck his badge case in his backpack.

"It's fine. Let's go." he said. Still a little worried, May silently got up and followed Ash out. The boy said goodbye to Roxanne one last time before they left the gym. Outside, the shining sun beamed down on them, but it wasn't enough to keep them warm from the chilly wind blowing by. They shivered and rubbed their arms with their hands.

"Where do you want to eat? It doesn't really matter to me." Ash said, making sure to keep a close eye on the girl.

May looked upward as she thought about what might meet her fancy. "I could go for some noodles." she admitted.

Ash nodded and the two began to look around the city for a noodle shop. After grabbing a map at the visitor center, they easily found a place and went to the location. It was a small, humble shack, but the smell radiating from the building was enough to almost make Ash and May drool.

The two anxiously stepped inside, Pikachu still riding on May's shoulder to make sure she behaved. The restaurant was clean but lacked space, having only a few small tables to sit at. Before the door was an older woman holding a few menus.

"How many?" she asked with a small but cheerful smile on her face. May held up two fingers.

Ash noticed a newspaper on the newspaper stand, and found the headline was about the break in at the museum. As May and the woman walked over to their table he grabbed the paper and followed after them.

The women pulled out their squeaky seats before the two sat down and they took two menus from her before she walked away. May awkwardly twiddled her thumbs as Ash laid out the newspaper and began to read through the article on the front.

"This is the thief I chased." he told May, tapping the paper twice. Ash read a little further down the article before a confused expression appeared on his face. "Hm... It says the thief only stole the Ruby and the Emerald." he said, bringing his face closer to the text to make sure he was reading it correctly. "The sapphire was left untouched."

Ash looked up at May, who had been quietly staring at him. "Are sapphires not valuable or something?" he asked her.

The girl shook her head. "No, they're just as valuable." she told him, she seemed to be very uneasy about the subject.

Ash gave her a questioning look. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You sound a little strange."

Before May could answer, a waitress came up to take their orders.

"Two checks?" the woman asked, asking if she was supposed to split the bill.

"Ye-" Ash began, but was cut short when May kicked his leg gently from under the table. He looked over at her and saw her shake her head to him. "No." he answered. The waitress smiled and thanked the two for coming before walking away.

Ash turned back to May. "You seriously have no money?" he asked, clearly frustrated.

"Well... Why else did you think I was trying to steal that man's wallet?" She asked, but quickly covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry. That was rude." she said, her voice muffled by her hands.

Ash sighed and looked at her sadly. She was trying hard not to tick him off, probably out of fear that he'd lose his patience and bad things would follow.

Their food came soon after and they ate quietly. Ash would glance over at May occasionally to make sure she wasn't about to stab him with her fork.

_No, idiot, she may be a crook, but she can't be violent ._Ash thought to himself, shaking away the thoughts. He did notice that May refused to look at him, and kept her focus fully on her food. From her shoulder, Pikachu sipped some bright red ketchup.

Ash couldn't help but think she was so different now compared to the time they had met in Petalburg City. She had become timid and quiet ever since Ash had agreed to drag her around Hoenn with him. Before she was talkative and even a flirt, but now she rarely spoke, and when she did she would often quickly apologize afterwards.

_Weird..._ was what crossed Ash's mind as he thought about it. _I hope she doesn't stay quiet and will warm up to me._

* * *

After the meal, the two trainers retreated to the Pokémon Center. Ash had to change out of his one bed bedroom to a two bed one. Nurse Joy agreed to the arrangement and gave Ash a new key.

"Now don't go out and do something reckless again tonight." Nurse Joy told him. "We can't have you going around with two black eyes."

Ash chuckled gently and thanked the lady before May quickly rushed over to him and hid behind him. "Hide me! Quick!" she said.

Ash looked around the room with confusion. "Huh? Why?" he asked.

"That man," May said as she pointed to a middle aged man. He had tired, brown eyes and messy brown hair, wore a business suit and had a thin pair of glasses on. She gasped when she saw the man was walking towards them. She quickly took Ash's cap off his head and put it on her own, pulling the brim down so it blocked her eyes.

"Oh, excuse me." the man said, stepping up to the desk and talking to Nurse Joy. "Would you be so kind as to rent me a room for the night?"

The woman smiled and nodded. "Of course." she chirped cheerfully.

As she worked on getting the man a room, Ash and May stood close by. Ash was confused, unsure of why May seemed to be afraid of the man. The girl remained silent with her head bowed, Ash's cap blocking out most of her face.

"Thank you so much." the man said gratefully as Nurse Joy handed him a room key, her bright smile never disappearing from her face. The man stuck the key in his pocket before looking around. When he saw Ash and May he smiled and began to walk over to them.

Ash could almost feel panic emitting from May as she stood silently beside him.

"Excuse me." The man said, stopping before the two. To Ash, he seemed nice enough. "I'm a professor looking for the school connected to the city's gym. Would you happen to know where the gym is?"

Ash smiled. "Oh, yeah." he said. He then proceeded to give the man directions to the gym he and May had been to earlier.

"Oh, thank you so much." the man said with a bow. He then hurried out of the Pokémon Center.

...

May let out an exasperated sigh of relief before taking off Ash's cap and giving it back, placing it on his head.

"Care to explain?" Ash asked, adjusting his cap. He couldn't help but notice May's guilt ridden face.

"Um..." May said, twiddling her thumbs. "I pick pocketed that guy a while ago, and he saw me."

...

Ash sighed before taking off his cap and running his hand through his hair. "Okay." he said.

...

"If it makes you feel any better," May began, turning her gaze to the ground. "I dropped the wallet while I was making an escape."

Ash facepalmed.

* * *

Ash found himself in his room, sitting in his bed with his back up against the wall. On the other side of the room, May was asleep, curled up under the covers. It was late. The sun had gone down hours ago and only the moon and stars lit up the sky.

Ash watched May silently, unsure if she was pretending to be asleep or actually out. He didn't want to give her any sort of opening to escape, not willing to take any risks.

He yawned.

_This can't go on forever. _he thought. _I can't watch her all the time forever..._

So what could he do? The only options seemed to be either let May go again or take her in. Neither which he wanted to do for the girl's sake.

_This needs to stop. _Ash thought. _I need to find a way to change her heart and make her realize that she can't keep stealing, for my own good and hers._

After encountering the man, May begged Ash to hide away in their rented Pokémon Center room. She told him she wasn't one to hang around in public during the day. She would only go out shortly in the day and then come out at night. She was afraid the world was out to get her, and she was kind if right, but it was her own fault.

Either way, Ash had decided he needed to buy ferry tickets to get to Dewford Island. So he, May, and Pikachu had gone out to get them. May had insisted on wearing his cap the whole time, and would hide behind Ash every time they walked past a police officer, security guard, and even a mall cop.

Then when they got to the stand to buy the tickets, May wouldn't stop staring at the cash register. Luckily the cashier never noticed.

_It's become a habit. It's become a bad habit. _Ash thought. _She can't make herself stop. She is constantly thinking about stealing things. It's always on her mind._

Ash had noticed while they were out that May's eyes would always lock onto purses, necklaces, earrings, and others things of value as people who had them would stroll past. She had even began to reach out and grab a purse on a bench next to a woman, but a light zap from Pikachu had stopped her and made her retract her hand.

She hated being under Ash's thumb like she was. He knew she did, but she obviously hated the idea of prison more and put up with him. How could he get her to be more cooperative and willing to break this bad habit so he wouldn't have to control her like this?

_I need to be friendlier. _Ash concluded. _We need to be closer if I want to understand her and help her._

He needed to become a friend.

* * *

Ash awoke to find himself still in the sitting position he had been in before. His eyes widened when he realized he had nodded off and frantically looked around to see if May was still there.

He sighed in relief when he found May was sitting in her bed with Mudkip crawling all over her while Torchic snuggled in her lap. He tilted his head when he heard the girl laugh at Mudkip's antics. He had never heard her genuine laugh before. He couldn't help but smile at the sound.

"Good morning, May." he said, stretching out his arms and yawned.

"Good morning." she replied, picking up Mudkip and holding the water type out before her.

Ash watched as Mudkip happily squirmed around in May's hands. Originally he had been planning on making May return the Pokémon to Birch, but the two seemed to becoming quite attached to each other.

It would be a _crime_to separate them now.

"Sleep well?" The girl asked jokingly. "I almost escaped, but Pikachu stopped me."

"Pika." Pikachu said proudly, nodding his head.

Ash sighed and scratched the back of his head. _We need to come up with a better system for this. Next time we might not be so lucky._He couldn't lock the rented room's door because it didn't require a key from the inside to unlock. Plus May could escape through the window even if it did.

_Ugh, this isn't going to be easy._ Ash thought. He pulled out two Pokéballs and released Taillow and Treecko. "You guys help Pikachu watch May while I take a shower." he told them, gesturing to the girl before stepping into the bathroom.

* * *

May crossed her arms and pouted after Ash closed the bathroom door. "I don't need to be babysat by Pokémon. I'm not four years old." she grumbled, glaring at Ash's Pokémon. She sighed and returned both Torchic and Mudkip before hearing familiar voices outside her door.

The voices grabbed her attention, and she walked over to the door.

"Piiiii," Pikachu threatened, his cheeks sparking.

"I'm just listening. Take a chill pill." May told him, pressing her ear against the door.

"Speaking of Norman, did you read the paper about his break in at the museum?" she heard one man say. He sounded like an old friend of her father's.

Then another man spoke up. "Oh yeah, he was actually telling me about that yesterday. He said he was planning on heading to Dewford and lying low for a while."

May gasped and backed up from the door, her hands over her mouth. _Him? Heading to Dewford Island? _She thought. _That's where we're going!_

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, tilting his head in confusion, wondering about May's strange behavior.

The brunette walked over to her bed and fell down onto it. "I'm so screwed." she said.

* * *

Ash came out of the bathroom clean and with a fresh set of clothes on, a damp towel slung over his shoulder. He looked around the room to see May sitting at the edge of her bed, watching him as he walked across the room.

"Say, Ash, you know what I've been thinking?" May began. Ash glanced over at her as he put a few things in his backpack to acknowledge he was listening. "Maybe we shouldn't go to Dewford Island yet."

Ash raised a brow. "Why?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know." May said, pulling up her legs onto the bed and wrapping her arms around them. "There's just so much we still haven't done here!"

"Like what?"

...

"Uh..." May thought, tapping her chin as her mind drew a blank. "Err..."

"I already bought the tickets for the ferry that takes us there." Ash said, sitting down on his bed and slinging his backpack over his shoulders. "They were expensive too."

"Well..." May said uneasily, rocking back and forth, making the bed squeak. "What is there even to do in Dewford?"

Ash looked at her oddly, wondering what was going on. "There's another gym there." he said. "Plus we have to stop there to take the ferry to Slateport City."

...

"Oh." May sighed. Knowing that there was a gym there, she knew she would never convince Ash of changing his mind.

Ash continued to watch the girl as she fell silent. "May? Are you okay?" he asked. "Is there something I should know."

"What? Oh no! Nothing to worry about!" May said bashfully, scoffing and putting on an innocent smile.

...

Ash let out a sigh, knowing that prying wouldn't help at all. "Alright, then." he said, putting a cheerful smile on his face. He glanced up at the clock on the wall to see the time. "Oh snap, we need to get going!" he said, hopping to his feet. Pikachu climbed onto May's shoulder as Ash returned Taillow and Treecko. With that, the they left their room. Ash returned the room key to Nurse Joy before taking off out of the Pokémon Center and in the direction of the ferry.

"Ash, Slow down! I can't keep running like this!" May panted as they raced down the sidewalk.

"If we slow down we'll miss the ferry!" Ash told her.

_That's the point! _May thought.

* * *

To May's dismay, they made it to the ferry with several minutes to spare. Although it upset her, she figured it was probably for the better that they didn't miss it. Ash would have been pretty ticked if they had.

_Wait... What if Dad is on __**this **__ferry?! _May thought. It took all her self control not to immediately latch onto Ash for protection.

"May, are you coming?" Ash asked, already on the ramp up to the boat. May snapped from her thoughts and hurried over to him. As they boarded, May frantically was looking all around.

"How long will it take us to get to Dewford?" she asked, keeping close to Ash as he began to walk around the ship. The boy shrugged.

"Probably a few hours." he told her. May let out a groan in response. Ash looked at her again. "What's wrong?" he asked.

May stiffened and began to fidget around. "Err... It's... Um... Just such a long trip!" she exclaimed. Her voice was unnecessarily high and she had a guilt ridden expression across her face.

...

"Okay." Ash said, and with that he began to walk down the deck. May stood still for a few moments, her mind processing his response before shaking her head and snapping back to reality. She quickly followed after.

She found herself on the main deck, where a few people here and there were chatting amongst themselves. Looking around carefully, she scanned the crowds to see if any familiar figure or face could be seen amongst them. Not recognizing anyone or seeing her father, she let out a sigh of relief. But it wasn't enough to let her guard down. She followed Ash to the side of the boat, by the railings.

She checked around again as she laid her hands down on the cold metal railing. She held down her bandana as a salty breeze blew by, making her hair fly around wildly. She looked over at Ash who was taking a deep breath of the fresh air with a smile on his face.

"Isn't this great?" He asked, stretching his arms out.

"No. Let's go inside."

...

Ash looked at May as she continued to carefully watch the people on the main deck. Her sapphire eyes darted back and forth as people brushed by.

"W-why?" Ash asked, a bit taken aback by her blunt and abrupt answer. The cool ocean air was perfect to him, he couldn't have asked for better weather.

"Someone out here might recognize me." May said, her eyes never leaving the crowd.

Ash sighed before smiling sadly. _Remember, I've got to be friendly. _Ash thought. "Alright, let's head inside."

May looked at the boy with surprise, eyes wide. "R-really?" she asked in disbelief. She had almost been sure he wanted her to feel insecure all the time.

Ash smiled wider. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

The hours on the ferry wore on slowly. Dewford Island was far off the coast, so getting there wasn't short and simple. After a few long and boring hours in the musty halls inside the ferry, Ash and May stepped back outside onto the main deck to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. The evening air was much cooler than before and the setting sun only lit the sky with a dark orange tint. Most of the passengers had retreated inside to avoid the cold breeze that gave them the shivers.

May sneezed as she, Ash, and Pikachu stood at the side of the boat overlooking the ocean. "Bless you," Ash said with a grin.

"Ugh, thanks." May said with a sniff, rubbing her bare arms with her gloved hands. She let out another sneeze.

"Cold?" Ash asked. The girl nodded silently, not looking over at him. He grinned and pulled at his sleeveless jacket, taking it off and holding it out for May. The girl looked at the jacket with surprise, before glancing up at Ash. "Go ahead. take it. I'm fine." he said, despite the goose bumps already appearing on his arms.

May slowly reached out and took the jacket. Pikachu crawled up onto May's head as she wrapped the warm vest around herself, and came back down to his perch on her shoulder when she was done.

"T-thanks," May muttered, averting her gaze away from Ash.

"Anytime, it's no problem." Ash replied, silently shivering. He was trying not to show that he was cold, but May couldn't help but notice.

_What's wrong with him? _May thought, her grip on the railing tightened. _I've been nothing but a pain in the butt since we met and yet he treats me nicely?_

She let out a sigh. She could clearly see her breath as it left her mouth and went into the cool air. She had spent many years in Hoenn, and she had never experienced such cold weather. _Why has it been so cold? _she asked herself. Luckily for her, the warm vest she was now wearing protected her from the cold wind.

Ash on the other hand, was not so warm.

May looked over at the poor boy and watched in pity as he tried to stop his teeth from chattering.

"Do you want your jacket back?" May asked, already beginning to take it off.

"N-no." was Ash's shaky answer.

"Do you want to go back inside?" she asked.

"I-I'm fine." he replied.

...

Pikachu watched with worry as his trainer shivered. Ash let out another sneeze. His entire body was now shaking. "Let's go inside." May said, grabbing Ash and dragging him away from the side of the boat.

* * *

Ash let out yet another sneeze.

"I swear, if you catch a cold..." May began, but never finished. She and Ash were now inside the ferry in some sort of sitting area. May had given Ash his jacket back.

"I think I'll be fine." Ash assured her, giving her a warm smile.

A smile...

When was the last time someone ever smiled at her like that? _Before Dad took me away. _May thought, her mind beginning to flood with memories. _Mom would... _She looked away from Ash, her eyes, slowly building up tears. She took a deep breath as she attempted to keep her emotions in check.

"May?"

"Hm?" the girl asked, wiping her eyes and looking back at Ash.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

May quickly shook her head. "N-no." she stammered, her eyes watering again.

Ash watched her sadly, wondering what could possibly be going on in her head. He smiled gently and scooted closer to her, putting his left arm around the delicate girl's shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

The girl sniffed and wiped her eyes before shaking her head. Ash sighed and patted her back before removing his arm. "Well if you ever want to, I'm all ears." he assured her.

May nodded in acknowledgement. Her shoulders now feeling cold, the warmth of his body heat gone. She almost wanted to lift his arm up and put it back. It was as if his arms were made perfectly to be wrapped around her.

May shook her head and snapped out of her thoughts. She looked over at Ash to see he was still looking at her. He was now laying back in his seat. "So tell me a bit about your past." he said. "Did you have any good friends?"

...

May laid her hands down on her knees, straightening her arms as her eyes were fixed on the ground.

...

"No." was her answer. "Not even one."

* * *

**So I have a Tumblr now. Civil War was supposedly deleted because I interact with the readers too much. But I really do want to interact with you guys. So for all the tumbly tumblr people out there, You can follow my blog and I might follow yours and we'll have fun.**

**Yeah.**

**I plan to do lots of Advanceshipping related stuff on there and other cool things. Like I was thinking I'd look back at my previous stories and talk about how they came to being and fun facts about them and junk. And I'll be posting my drabbles there. Plus I want to rewrite Fiercer Than a Legendary soon and I figured we could all discuss what would be good to fix and what to keep. Yeah, I'm gonna hopefully have you guys influence the rewrite of that fic a bit. :D**

**But I can't post a link to the blog here because Fanfiction is a dumb when it comes to links, but if you go to my profile page, a link to it will be right at the top there. You can't miss it. **

**So yeah, enough self promoting xD **

**Toodles.**

**~The Shiny Gengar**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Truths and Honesty**

* * *

"Ahhh, Dewford Island," Ash said, stretching out his arms and legs. Pikachu stood beside him, doing the same. May simply stood behind them, still cautiously scanning the area. They had finally gotten off the ferry and arrived at their destination. Ash was highly anticipating his next Pokémon battle.

The air in Dewford was salty, which wasn't much of a surprise considering it was surrounded by the ocean. The island didn't have a very large town, only featuring the gym, a Pokémon Center, the ferry, a neighborhood, and a few small stores.

"It's a relaxing town." Ash said, taking in a deep breath and putting his hands on his hips. "Maybe we should stick around for a few extra days and train."

"NO!"

Ash and Pikachu jumped at the sudden shout and turned around to see she had her hands over her mouth. "Uh... I mean... Slateports City is nice as well... We could stay there instead."

"What's wrong with Dewford?" Ash asked curiously. "Does it bring back bad memories?"

May sighed and bowed her head, her hair blocking her eyes. "N-no..." she muttered.

...

"Well okay," Ash replied. "Come on. It's getting late. We should check in at the Pokémon Center."

May smiled a little and nodded. "Hm, yeah." She agreed.

The sun was setting, peeking out from behind the vast ocean that surrounded the island. It glowed a dark orange and painted the sky various shades of red and yellow. The chilling wind still tickled the trainers' skins, but the constant movement from walking helped keep them warm.

After a few quiet minutes of walking down the road towards their destination, May spoke up. "Did you have any friends as a child?" She asked, rubbing her gloved hands on her arms.

Ash shrugged. "Eh, a few," he said. "There was a boy named Gary who I was friends with."

"Was?" May asked. She picked up her pace a little so she was standing side by side with Ash.

"Well, I still am. We were rivals for a while." Ash explained, remembering the arrogant trainer who had bugged him on his past journeys. "And then after I left on my Pokémon adventure I became friends with a guy named Brock and a girl named Misty."

"Pikaaaa." Pikachu said, seeming annoyed.

Ash laughed and his smile grew, he reached up and scratched the Pokémon's head. "Of course, I became best friends with Pikachu." He said. "I befriended a lot of Pokémon."

May's brow furrowed. "You can understand Pikachu?" She asked with curiosity.

Ash exchanged glances with his electric type Pokémon. "Yeah, we have a really strong bond." He said.

May pulled out Torchic's Pokéball and held it up to eye level. "Will I ever be able to understand my Pokémon?" She asked curiously. She tossed the Pokéball in the air and caught it.

Ash grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it'll happen before you know it." He assured her.

May sighed and stuck the Pokéball back in her fanny pack. "So are those all your friends?" She asked him.

Ash looked up at the sky. The stars could now be seen twinkling in the darkness. "No. There's more than I can count. I've befriended so many people since my journey began."

His smile widened and he wrapped his arm around May's shoulder, holding up his index finger on his opposite hand. "Like you," he said cheerfully.

May's eyes widened at what he said and his sudden action. "W-what?" she asked, removing herself from his arm. Although the second the warmth left her shoulders, she regretted it. May blushed in embarrassment and the two stopped walking.

Ash gave her a toothy grin and gave her a thumbs up. "Yeah." he said. "I would consider you a friend."

...

"That's not true." May said, turning her gaze down toward the ground. "I'm just a pain that you pity." She said. "I'm just someone following you around in replace of a worse fate."

...

Ash stepped up closer to May, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Do you think I would put up with you if I didn't see you as anything other than a pain?" he asked her sincerely.

May looked up at him. "I..." She began. "I don't know."

Ash smirked. "You don't know because you've never had a real friend." He said, patting her shoulder. "Until now, at least, right, Pikachu?"

"Pikapika!" The Pokémon on his shoulder agreed.

May looked him in the eye. She was pretty good at interpreting when someone was lying or telling the truth. From what she could tell, he was being honest.

"I..." she stammered, but hesitated. "T-thank you."

Ash took his hand off her shoulder and began walking again. "Cool, now let's go. I'm freezing." He said with a laugh.

* * *

When they reached the Pokémon Center, they found a tall, thin man standing before a large pile of boxes. He had his hands on his hips as he seemed to study the boxes. Curious, Ash walked over to the man. May followed close behind. Upon hearing their footsteps, the man turned around to see who was approaching.

He was a bit of an older man featuring a puffy, brown beard. He had messy brown hair on his head, but it was mostly covered by an expensive looking top hat. He had eyes like Brock, and pale skin.

"Ah, perfect timing!" the man said happily upon seeing the trainers.

Ash raised a brow curiously. "Hi, who are you?" he asked, hoping to sound polite.

The man stood up a bit straighter. "Allow me to introduce myself, young lad." He said, his voice sounded slightly scarred from a past habit of smoking. "My name is Julius Maximus. I am an avid collector of rocks!"

"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head in confusion.

"Ah, but not just any rocks." the man said, elegantly opening a box and pulling out a flashy, yellow stone. May's eyes widened and sparkled in great interest. "I and my friend Steven Stone collect some of the rarest stones in all the regions!"

The man sighed and slouched a little. "But there's a bit of a predicament." Julius admitted. "I recently received a collection of stones to have them professionally carved. Unfortunately they were dropped off at the Pokémon Center and I have no way of getting them home without leaving some here."

Ash could already tell where this was going.

"You two seem like fine children. Perhaps you could help me get these home and in return I'll show you my collection and treat you to a cup of tea?" he asked, bowing slightly.

"Uh..." Ash stammered. He wanted to help the man, but he knew that it could be a bad idea having May around, considering her extreme interest in precious stones. He found it ironic Julius referred to them both as "fine children."

"Sounds like a deal!"

Ash spun around to see May had spoken up, and was already walking over to the boxes. An energetic sparkle flashed in her eyes.

"Excellent!" Julius exclaimed.

Oh boy.

* * *

After carrying the heavy boxes down to Julius's ever so large house, they tiredly set the boxes down in the foyer and Julius headed to the kitchen.

"Thank you so much for the help. Allow me to cook up some tea for you in return." He said.

Ash shook his head and spoke up. "Uh, it's okay, I really think-"

"That's really sweet of you!" May interrupted. "We could really go for some tea!"

Ash looked at the girl suspiciously, but she didn't seem to notice. He really hoped she wasn't planning on doing anything mischievous.

"It'll take a few minutes to heat up." Julius said, stepping out of the kitchen and down the hall. He stepped up to a door and began to insert a key. "In the mean time, I let you three take a look at my pride and joy."

Mary's sparkled. "You mean your rock collection?" she asked excitedly.

Ash tried to speak up. "I really-"

"But of course!" Julius said, unlocking the door. "Let's have a look!"

He threw open the doors and flipped on the lights. The room was littered with displays of polished and carved rocks and gems of all shapes and colors. The collection and display was fit to be a museum. May's eyes widened in pure excitement and she wore a grin large enough to match a Gengar's.

"Whoa..." Ash whispered, equally amazed by the vast collection of stones. They both stepped forward, taking in all the incredible colors and shine the stones gave off. The displays and lights each stone and gem was given only enhanced the experience.

"These stones come from all over the world." Julius said proudly. It was obvious he adored his collection like a father would his children. He took out a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on before picking up an orange stone with a flame inside. "Some of these will even evolve Pokémon."

"This is amazing..." Ash muttered, bending down so he and Pikachu could get a better view of a dark purple gem. "How do you get all these?"

Julius chuckled and set the stone in his hands down. "I have my ways." He said. "I'm very resourceful."

There a ding from outside the room. "Ah, I do believe that would be the tea." The gentleman said. "If you would be so kind as to follow..."

Finally tearing his eyes away from the gem, Ash stood up straight and he and May stepped out of the display room. They followed Julius to the kitchen, where he poured them both cups of tea. The glasses he used looked very expensive.

"So what brings you two to the dull island of Dewford?" Julius asked.

Ash took a sip of his tea before speaking. "I came here to get a gym badge." He informed Julius.

"Ah, yes, Brawly's gym, right? Wonderful chap," Julius said. Ash set his tea down on the counter for Pikachu. The Pokémon hopped down and began to help himself. "Are you both taking on the league?"

May didn't reply and just quietly sipped her tea.

"Uh, no," Ash said. "May is a friend who wanted to tag along with me around Hoenn."

"Hmm, sounds exciting." Julius said, taking a small sip of his tea. "Hoenn is full of interesting myths and legends. It has lots of amazing history. You should look into it sometime."

Ash raised a brow. "Legends? Like what?"

"Many amazing stories about many amazing Pokémon," the man replied. He glanced over at the round clock hanging from the wall and put on an expression of surprise. "Well, would you look at the time! I didn't realize it was so late." He said, hastily setting down his cup of tea. "And I have an appointment with someone soon!"

Ash smiled. "Well, I suppose we should leave then." He said. May set down her tea and nodded. "Thank you for the tea."

"Ah, it was no trouble at all." Julius said with a wave of the hand as he began to hastily clean up the kitchen. "I'm so grateful you helped me get those boxes here. Thank you so much!" He bowed slightly as he spoke.

Ash and May bowed a little in response. "It was no problem." Ash said.

* * *

"Empty your pockets."

"W-what?"

"We just left the home of the richest man on this island. Empty your pockets."

May and Ash had left Julius's house and had walked several yards away before Ash had stopped her and began to demand she empty her pockets.

May flinched before slowly reaching down into her pockets. She then smirked and pulled them inside out to show there was nothing in them.

"Fanny pack."

May sighed and unzipped her fanny pack, pulling out Mudkip and Torchic's Pokéballs, Pokémon medicine, and a Thunder Stone.

"T-that Thunder Stone was from Birch's lab..." May murmured quietly, head bowed slightly.

Ash sighed and took the Thunder Stone from her, but was relieved to see she hadn't stolen anything.

"Pika?" Pikachu said, looking at May closely. Ash looked at him in confusion. "Piiikaaahh." Pikachu said suspiciously, sniffing the air.

May put on an innocent smile. "W-what?" She asked. Ash could hear the guilt laced in her voice.

"May," he said sternly, holding out his hand to take whatever she was hiding. "Give it."

"I-I don't have a-anything! I-I swear!" May insisted, nervous sweat appearing on her forehead.

Pikachu suddenly hopped off Ash's shoulder and onto May's. The girl yelped in surprise at the sudden action. The mouse reached down her back from under the collar of her shirt and felt a thin chain. He grasped it and pulled it out, lifting it high enough for the whole chain to be unveiled.

It was a necklace, and it had a carved diamond hanging from it.

"I-it's not what you think!" May tried to say, but Ash didn't buy it. Pikachu pulled the necklace fully off and handed it to his trainer.

"Then what is it?" Ash asked angrily. He couldn't believe he was scolding a girl his age.

"It's..."

...

...

"Well?"

...

...

May bowed her head, blocking her eyes from Ash's view. "I can't help it! Okay?!" She exclaimed. "I see it! I want it! I grab it!" She spun around so her back was turned to Ash, burying her face in her hands. "You didn't have Pikachu watching me! How was I supposed to resist?"

"Don't try to justify it!" Ash shot back, his hand clenching around the necklace. "Every human has a set of natural morals to follow!"

May didn't reply to his scolding, and rather kept her back turned to him, silently locking her gaze onto the cement sidewalk. Ash sighed and looked at the necklace in his hands before looking up at May. He outstretched his hand to give it to the girl.

May saw the hand holding the necklace and looked at it, wondering what Ash was up to.

"Give it back to him."

May's eyes widened in fear as she looked up at Ash. "But-"

"You're going to take this necklace, and you're going to give it back to Julius." Ash said sternly, waiting for May to take the necklace.

"But what if he-?"

"We're going to leave that for him to decide." Ash said. "I'm leaving your fate in his hands this time."

May gulped.

* * *

***Knock* *knock* *knock***

"Coming, coming!" Julius could be heard saying from the other side the door. Ash, May, and Pikachu had returned to his doorstep. May sheepishly stood at the front with the necklace in her clenched hand.

The door swung open to reveal Julius, who had a cell phone in his hands. His eyes widened in surprise after seeing the trainers standing there. "Well... I hardly expected to see you return." He said, blinking in confusion.

May gulped again and slowly held out her hand, opening it to display the valuable necklace resting in her palm. "I... Uh... Am returning this to you..."

Julius twitched for a moment before glancing at his cell phone. He slapped it shut and stuffed it in his pocket before snatching the jewelry from May. "**Thank** you **very **much." He said sarcastically, examining the necklace to make sure it was genuine. "You two are lucky. I happened to see little miss thief's shenanigans in my display room and was about to call the cops!" He pulled out his cell phone again and waved it around.

May backed up a little, bumping into Ash.

Julius sighed and pulled out a handkerchief and began to rub the diamond on the necklace. "But because you had the decency to bring it back, I'll let it slide **just **this once." He told them. "But if I ever see either of you stealing from me, or from anyone else again, you won't be so lucky!"

...

"T-thank you?" May said, although it was more of a question than a reply.

Julius nodded. "Good evening!" And with that, he closed the door, leaving Ash and May standing there in silence.

The girl collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. Ash wouldn't have been surprised if she had been holding her breath the last few minutes.

"Oh my god..."

"May..."

"OH MY GOD!"

Ash crouched down and laid a hand on her shoulder. The girl had her hand over her mouth as she recovered from what had just happened. "I thought I was screwed." She whispered. "I thought that was it for me."

Ash smiled and patted her. "But you did the right thing. That's what matters." He said. May nodded and weakly smiled at him.

The boy stood up and helped May up to her feet. "Let's go back to the Pokémon Center."

* * *

May found herself sitting in the Pokémon cafeteria staring at a bowl of pasta. Typically she loved pasta but now she wasn't feeling very hungry. Ash sat across from her and was eating a burger while Pikachu sat on her shoulder nibbling on some Pokémon food. The room they were in was fairly quiet, as it was late and most trainers staying at the Pokémon Center had already eaten.

Ash glanced up at May, noticing her pasta was almost completely untouched. He raised a brow in confusion. "Do you not like it?" He asked.

May let out a sigh and shook her head. "No," she answered. "I've been thinking."

Ash smirked and set his burger down. "What were you thinking about?" He asked, figuring he already knew the answer.

"If... If I hadn't given that necklace back, that man would have called the police." May said, pushing her food away. "Things wouldn't have ended pretty."

Ash smiled and gestured to her. "You see?" He asked with a knowing grin. "Good things come when you're honest."

"They would have arrested me... And you."

...

"Uh... Well..." Ash stammered. He obviously had not considered that before. "I-I guess..."

May looked at Ash sadly. "I just don't understand why you're doing this." She laid her head down on the table. "Why are you putting up with me? I could get you in trouble."

Ash thought for a minute, trying to choose his words wisely. When he didn't answer, May lifted her head and looked at him, waiting for his response.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw something behind Ash. She frantically looked for a place to hide before eventually ducking under the table with Pikachu. In confusion, Ash looked behind and saw two men standing in the lobby.

One was a tall blonde man in a rain jacket, as it had begun to rain outside. The other man had dark navy hair. He had on a red and black zip up jacket and dark jeans. He was all wet from the rain. They were both very tall, muscular, and intimidating.

"So have you sold the gems yet?" The blond man asked.

The other ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "Only the emerald, I can't sell the ruby until I sell the sapphire, and I currently don't have the sapphire." he said. He had a deep and somewhat menacing voice.

The two men walked into the cafeteria. "Why can't you sell the ruby, Norman?" The blonde asked.

The two men sat at the table behind the booth May had been sitting in, paying no heed to Ash. They sat down so the navy haired man's back was turned to Ash and the blonde man sat across.

"I made two separate deals to two very large groups who happen to be rivals." The man in the red explained. "One wouldn't be very happy if I sold one to the other beforehand."

"Ah, I see." His friend said. "So do you know where the sapphire is?"

The other let out a low growl. "Yes, but no."

The blonde man out his hands up defensively. "Hey, hey, I see you don't want to talk about it. I won't ask."

"Good."

Ash felt a tug on his pant leg and looked under the table to see May looking up at him. "I need to get out of here, now." She whispered very quietly.

Ash looked up at the two and glanced around to see if there was a way May could get out unseen.

"Hey, I got to take a wee, I'll be right back." The blonde man said, getting up from the table. He walked right past Ash, still ignoring him.

Seeing his chance as the other had his back to them, Ash got up and silently helped May out from under the table. They quickly left the room and rushed across the lobby and down the hall to their dorm room, which Ash had gotten earlier.

They rushed into the room and May quickly slammed the door shut behind her, pressing her back against it. She slid down to her seat while breathing heavily.

"Oh man..." She huffed. "That was close."

* * *

"So..." Ash began quietly. He and May were sitting in their respective beds across from each other. May had let her Pokémon out, so Mudkip was resting in her lap while she held Torchic tightly in her arms. "Was that someone else you stole from?"

May shook her head, her eyes shut tightly as she squeezed Torchic a bit tighter.

"That was... Um... My dad." She said quietly.

"Pika?" Pikachu said in surprise, Ash looked equally taken aback.

"You're dad? The thief?" He asked. May kept her eyes shut as she nodded her head.

Ash exchanged glances with Pikachu before crawling off his bed. May felt movement on her bed and opened her eyes to see Ash sitting beside her, looking at her with a worried expression on his face.

"May..." He murmured quietly, not taking his eyes off her. "Why are you so afraid of your father?"

May swallowed hard and averted her eyes down. She owed Ash an explanation. She knew she did. Part of her even wanted to tell him about it.

"I... He..." She began. She took a deep breath. "Back when I was very young, he took me away from my mother, who he had divorced long before. I was only five at the time."

"That's horrible." Ash said, Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"It gets worse." May said. "He's quick to anger, and he's very violent."

Tears began to form in her eyes.

"And of course... He would take his anger out on me." She said. Her voice cracking. Memories of her past were flowing through her like a rushing river. It pained her so much.

Upon instinct, Ash wrapped an arm around her shoulder, hoping to make her feel a little better. He already pitied the girl a great deal, but this only made things worse. May was fighting back the tears as best as she could, but a single drop rolled down her cheek.

"Hey," Ash said, pulling her towards him a little. "You know it's okay to cry sometimes."

May looked at him for a moment. He gave her a smile. With that, she broke down, stopped fighting the tear, and leaned against her new best friend. Ash smiled sadly as he watched the girl recover from her emotional fit.

"Torchic?" Torchic asked from her arms, looking up at May. The girl held the Pokémon closer, allowing her to nuzzle her small head against May's cheeks.

The young girl tried to smile and wiped her tears from her eyes with her cheeks. "It's been a long day." She said quietly.

Ash patted her shoulder twice before removing his arm, and May stopped leaning on him. "Yeah, it has." He agreed. "But I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, I'm gonna get my gym badge and we'll get on the ferry and leave the island right after. Sound good?"

May smiled and nodded. "Yeah... That sounds good. Thank you."

* * *

"Hmmmm... I finally found you." Norman growled quietly, he had his ear pressed up against the door. He stood up straight and cracked his knuckles. "The ferry, huh? I can't do much there without attracting a lot of attention. At least now I know where you're going."

With that, he chuckled quietly before walking away.

* * *

**So I set up a poll about what I should do after this fic (which isn't close to be done, just getting a head start) Head over to my profile and check out the poll to tell me what you want me to do next. I'm probably gonna do all of them eventually, just want to know what to do first. :P**

**Okay, cool. Bye.**

**The Shiny Gengar**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: A New Hobby**

* * *

Ash's eyes fluttered open to see Pikachu looking down at him. The small yellow mouse was shaking him around frantically trying to wake him up.

"Pika pi! Pika pi!" The mouse exclaimed in his face.

Ash groaned and rubbed his face with his hands before stretching and letting out a yawn. "Morning, Pikachu," he greeted, not noticing the urgency in his Pokémon's voice.

"Chuchupi pika pikachu!" Pikachu said, hopping off Ash and scurrying across the room.

"Chuchupi?" Ash grumbled sleepily, he had never heard that from Pikachu before. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced across the room to see Pikachu jumping up and down on May's bed.

Ash blinked in confusion before noticing the bed was lacking something, namely May. His eyes widened as he realized he and Pikachu had both fallen asleep and given May a chance to flee. He leapt from his bed and dashed out of the room without bothering to grab his shoes, hat, and clothes.

Almost slipping on the slick tile floor, Ash quickly regained his footing and ran down the hall of the Pokémon Center with Pikachu. He entered the lobby and slid on the floor several feet before finally stopping. He frantically looked left and right before his eyes caught the familiar bright red bandana May always wore. He saw the girl sitting calmly in the Pokémon Center cafeteria eating a waffle. He let out a sigh of relief before walking into the cafeteria and approaching May. She quickly noticed him and looked up with a smile.

Ash stopped, panting as her expression curled into confusion. "I thought you had taken a chance to run." He said tiredly, plopping down in the chair across the table from her. Pikachu climbed up into his lap.

May looked up at the ceiling and put her index finger on her chin as she thought about what Ash had said. "It never crossed my mind, honestly." She admitted letting a chuckle escape her mouth. "Besides, we're on an island. Where would I go?"

Ash shrugged, resting his elbows on the table.

"Not to mention we're friends now. I can't say I really want to run."

Ash was a bit taken aback by her comment, sitting up in his chair as he looked at May with surprise. She didn't notice though as she had returned her attention back to her waffle. A small smile tugged at the corners of Ash's mouth.

"Well I'm happy to hear that." He said with a grin. Pikachu nodded in agreement. May looked up and smiled at him cheerfully.

"So, are you planning on battling the gym leader in your pajamas?" May asked with a smirked.

Ash looked down at his current attire before blushing in embarrassment. "Well... uh… I'll be right back."

* * *

Ash's gym battle with Brawly didn't go as swiftly as he had hoped, and ended with a loss on his side. Brawly had given Ash a pat on the shoulder and told him to train a bit harder and do his best, and that he would be eagerly awaiting his return for a rematch.

Now Ash and May sat in the Pokémon Center lobby, waiting for Nurse Joy to finish healing Pikachu, Treecko, and Taillow. Ash had his eyes locked on the tile floor while May timidly sat next to him, not saying a word.

Ash was at a crossroad. He wanted to stay on the island and train for a rematch with Brawly. On the other hand, May wanted to get off the island as soon as she could and get as far from her father as possible. Even as he sat there thinking, he couldn't help but notice her gaze dashing around as she was on the look out to be sure Norman wasn't anywhere near.

He sighed in defeat before sitting up straight and laying a hand on her back. "We need to leave soon or the ferry will take off without us."

May's brow shot up with surprise before furrowing with confusion. "But you haven't gotten your gym badge yet!" She told him.

Ash smiled sadly before sitting back into the couch, removing his hand from May's back. Laying his head down on the couch, he gazed up at the ceiling. "Well, Norman is still hanging around here so-"

"But-"

"And if he's as brutal as you claim he is, we should leave the island for your sake." Ash said. He felt the weight on the couch shift as May stood up. The girl kept her back to him with her hands curled into fists at her sides.

"My sake?" May asked quietly. Ash looked at her, not saying a word. "My sake?" She asked again, this time a little more loudly.

Ash couldn't tell what was going through her head. "Yeah..." He muttered in confusion. May grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him from the couch. She proceeded to drag him into the hall before pointing a finger in his face.

"All you've done the last few days is think about 'my sake'!" She said in a hushed voice. "All I've been is dead weight! Is there ever a moment when your actually thinking about yourself!?"

Ash looked at her sadly. "We just went over this last night." He began. "You're not-"

He stopped abruptly upon hearing the deep tone of Norman's voice in the air. He and May glanced into the lobby to see the man walking in through the automatic sliding glass doors with the man he had been hanging around with the previous night. They could have sworn Norman looked directly at them before turning his attention back to the other man. The two teens exchanged panicked glances before rushing down the hall and into their reserved room.

Ash quickly closed the door behind him, being careful not to slam it. He then locked the door and stood in the room quietly with May as they both listened to the sounds coming from outside the room. May stood in the center of the room, her gaze locked on the door and her clasped hands held up to her chest.

They heard Norman and his friend's muffled conversation through the walls as they walked past the door, and held their breaths until the voices faded away and the men walked down the hall.

May let out an exasperated sigh of relief and collapsed onto her bed, grabbing her pillow and burying her face in it.

"Forget everything I said. We're taking the ferry off this island, right now." She said into the pillow.

* * *

Ash had to leave the room temporarily to retrieve Pikachu and his other Pokémon. When he returned he found May lying in her bed, holding up Mudkip over her head.

"Hey, Ash," she began quietly, not taking her gaze off her smiling Mudkip. She set the Pokémon down and hugged it close. "Are you... Ever going to, um... Make me give back Mudkip to Professor Birch?" She asked, dreading his answer.

Ash smirked as Mudkip nuzzled his head against May's cheek. "I don't think so, but that Thunder Stone is another story." He told her.

Ash yelped in surprise as May glomped him from the side, knocking him onto his bed. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She exclaimed happily, squeezing his torso tightly before letting go. With that, she stood up straight and skipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

...

"Okay," Ash muttered with confusion.

* * *

The two packed up their stuff and cleaned up the room before peeking out the doorway and looking around the hall. When the two saw Norman wasn't anywhere to be seen, they tip toed down the hall before rushing into the lobby. Ash quickly returned the room keys to Nurse Joy before racing out of the building with May and Pikachu.

Finally feeling that they were in the clear, the three let out sighs of relief before slowing their pace down to a walk. The weather was still chilly, but not anywhere near as cold as it had been the previous night. Ash and May both hoped the trip to Slateport City would be much more comfortable than the last ferry ride had been. The town wasn't very large, so it didn't take them very long to reach the port and board the ferry.

What they hadn't noticed was a shadowy figure tailing far behind them.

* * *

May had to hold on to her bandana to prevent it from blowing away with the rushing wind. The sea breeze combined with the rushing ferry created frantic drafts, which blew the girl's hair in every direction.

She stood next to Ash, leaning against the cold, metal rail that ran along the edge of the deck. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. For the first time in the last day or so, she wasn't worried about her father being around.

She glanced over at Ash to see the boy watching sadly as Dewford Island grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Feeling a tingle of guilt, she turned away from him.

"It's fine." Ash assured her, noticing her reaction. "We can always go back later and so I can have my rematch."

May sighed but didn't look at him, rather turning her focus back to the island.

Feeling uncomfortable in the awkward silence, Ash looked around the deck to see if there was anything interesting. A poster caught his eye, its bright colors made it stick out from the rest of the environment.

"Pokémon Contests?" Ash read aloud with curiosity. He stepped away from the railing and over to the poster. May noticed Ash was walking away and followed after him. The two stopped in front of the large, brightly colored poster, which had several cute Pokémon plastered across it.

"Make battling an art." Ash read aloud, his gaze focused on the bottom of the poster. "The battlefield is a canvas waiting to be painted with astonishing and beautiful battles. Take this special opportunity to earn a ribbon."

The boy scratched his head in confusion. "What?" He asked, glancing at May to see if she understood it. The girl looked back at him and shrugged, not understanding it anymore than he did.

"It's simple, darlin'." A strange voice from behind them said. "Coordinators participate in contest and earn ribbons for winning."

Ash and May turned around to see a tall man with purple hair. He had on a strange green outfit and wore a green, pointy hat.

"How do you win?" May asked, looking at the oddly dressed man strangely.

The man grinned. "First you have to pass an appeal round, where you use dazzling Pokémon attacks to impress three judges." He said while holding up three fingers. "Then there are a series of battles that you go through, and losing means you're eliminated from the contest. The last one standing wins a shiny ribbon!"

...

Ash chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, I hate to sound rude, but... Who are you?"

The man twirled around on one foot before stopping and posing for them. "Harley's the name, winning's my game! I'm only the greatest coordinator in all of Hoenn!" He said, pointing to himself proudly with his thumb.

"What's the benefit of winning a ribbon?" May asked, stepping a little closer. "Are they really valuable?"

"Uh, you can't sell them." Harley admitted. May immediately lost interest. "But winning five allows a coordinator to have free access to participate in the Grand Festival."

"And if you win that?"

"You get a trophy."

"Which is worth?"

"Nothing."

May was completely uninterested now, but Ash's eyes were sparkling with excitement. "These contest actually sound really cool!" He said. Pikachu nodded in agreement. "Can people watch them?"

"But of course!" Harley said, clasping his hands together as he imagined a crowd cheering for him. "In fact, contests are the greatest attraction in Slateport!"

May put her hands on her hips. "What about the beach?"

Harley sweat dropped. "Uh, that's a close second."

Ash looked at May with excitement. "It sounds really interesting, May. Maybe we should go watch one!" He suggested.

May opened her mouth to voice her disinterest, but remembered the only reason they were going to Slateport City was because of her problems. She sighed and bowed her head. She felt it was about time they did something Ash wanted to do. "I guess that might be fun." She muttered quietly.

"Well you're in luck, kiddos." Harley said, bending over so he was at eye level with them. "There's a contest this evening and it'll be featuring yours truly!"

May put on a fake smile. "Great."

* * *

The ferry arrived at the port of Slateport City. Ash, May, and Harley all got off using the ramp to the dock. Harley turned to them before putting one hand on his hip and giving Ash and May a thumbs up with the other. "So I'll see you two at the contest tonight, am I right?" He asked with a wink.

Ash grinned. "Yeah!" He said excitedly.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said, equally happy.

"Mhm, yep," May said, unable to match the others' enthusiasm.

"Fantastic, I look forward to hear you cheering for me." Harley said confidently. With that he said goodbye and skipped away.

Ash chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Harley certainly is interesting." He said, looking over at May.

"Yeah, and weird," She added. She looked down at the watch she had stolen a long time ago, that was now strapped to her left wrist, to check the time. "The contest isn't for several more hours. What should we do?"

* * *

Ash, May, and Pikachu walked around Slateport City for a while, trying to find the Pokémon Center. After some time, the familiar building came into view, its front facing the beach. May's eyes sparkled upon seeing the vast ocean of blue laid out before her. The bright, sandy beach was full of people, umbrellas, and spread out towels. The glistening waves were crashing against the beach side, splashing into any unsuspecting victims.

"It's beautiful." May murmured. Ash stopped walking when he noticed May had stopped with her gaze locked on the beach. He strolled back over to her.

He too looked out at the cheerful scene. "Have you not ever been to the beach before?" He asked, glancing at May.

May shook her head, not taking her eyes off the beach. "No, my mother used to take me all the time before..." But her voice trailed off, leaving her to never complete the sentence. Ash's brow furrowed at May expression went from excitement and fascination to blank and emotionless.

The girl tore her gaze from the scene and looked at Ash with a sad smile. "L-let's go." She stammered, her watery eyes glistening. She walked past him and towards the Pokémon Center.

Ash raised a brow. "May, are you alright?" He asked.

Keeping her back to him, the girl wiped her eyes. "I'm fine." She assured him, but she never turned around to face him. Ash exchanged glances with Pikachu before shrugging, hurrying after her, and entering the Pokémon Center.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Ash asked. He had gotten a room at the Pokémon Center and had found May standing before the large windows at the front of the Pokémon Center. May was once again gazing at the beach.

"No, I'm fine." May said, taking a deep breath. Ash had asked if she wanted to go to the beach, but she had turned the offer down.

Ash once again noticed May's eyes beginning to water. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked gently.

May smiled and wiped her eyes. "Yeah." She said with a slight sniff. "This just brings back so many memories." She chuckled slightly, bowing her head. "One time, I was swimming around in the ocean when I was young, and found myself surrounded by several Tentacools." May began, laying her right hand on the polished window. A slight grin tugged at her lips as she thought about the memory. "My mom mistook me for a Pokémon and tried to catch me with an actual Pokéball."

Ash stifled a laugh, a grin now stretched across his face. "How on earth could she have mistaken you for a Pokémon?"

May laughed and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was because she didn't have her contacts on and I was wearing a blue swimming cap." She said. A blush now stained her cheeks. "Needless to say it was really embarrassing."

Suddenly, she quickly turned to face Ash. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward, pointing a finger in his face. "And if you ever tell anyone about it, I'll skin you alive!" She warned him.

Ash laughed and put his hands up defensively. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

* * *

The contest was fascinating, at least, to Ash it was. May watched with little interest. But through watching the contest, the two were able to better understand what contests were about. Rather than focusing on strength, contest focused on beauty. During the battle rounds, even if someone used an extremely powerful attack, the trainer would lose points if the attack was too lackluster.

"It's really a different way of battling." Ash observed, stroking his chin thoughtfully. He glanced at May, who still didn't seem interested. "I would have thought you'd have liked this. You're a sucker for shiny and sparkly things."

May smirked slightly at his comment. "I've never been into Pokémon battles." She told him, having to speak up in order to be heard over the roar of the crowd and explosions coming from the battlefield. "I only visited Birch for a starter because I wanted to make sure I could defend myself."

Ash's brow furrowed and he turned back to the show. Harley was battling a trainer Ash and May had never met before in the final round. Looking at the points, Harley was comfortably ahead.

"Maybe this could be something you could get into." Ash suggested with a smile. "I have a feeling that you would end up liking it."

May shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Nah, it's okay." She said, keeping her gaze on the battle and away from Ash.

Ash clapped as the round ended and Harley was declared the winner, thinking about how he could convince May to try out contests.

* * *

May woke up the next morning and glanced over at Ash's bed to see it was unoccupied. This was strange because she almost always woke up before he did. She scratched her head in confusion as she looked around to see he wasn't in the room either.

"Piiiiika?"

May jumped slightly at the noise and looked over at the foot of her bed to see Pikachu smiling cheerfully at her. She smiled and scratched under the electric mouse's chin, causing him to chirp in delight. She threw off her covers and tiredly sat at the edge of the bed, the cold floor causing her feet to tingle.

Pushing the thoughts of Ash's whereabouts aside, May stood up and stretched, letting a yawn escape her mouth. She quickly got dressed, let Pikachu climb up onto her shoulder, and left the rented room, stepping out into the hall. She walked down the hall until she reached the lobby, finding Ash was nowhere to be found. When she asked Pikachu where his trainer had gone, he simply smiled, but wouldn't answer, not that it really mattered. May wouldn't have been able to understand what he was saying anyways.

So she sat down in the cafeteria to order breakfast, but it wasn't long before Ash came through the main entrance of the Pokémon Center. He walked over to May with an excited sparkle in his eyes. He flopped down in the chair across the table from the girl with a goofy grin plastered across his face.

May looked at him curiously. "You seem quite upbeat this morning." She observed. "Where'd you go off to?"

Ash's smile only grew as he dug through his pockets and pulled out two Pokéballs, which he dropped on the table. "I caught two really cool Pokémon." He said excitedly.

May found Ash's smile to be contagious as a grin stretched across her face as well. "Good for you." She said cheerfully. "Can I see them?"

Ash nodded and grabbed the Pokéballs. He enlarged them and released them on the floor by the table. One was a red Pokémon with large round claws while the other was a pinkish feline Pokémon with squinty eyes and a strange tail.

"What Pokémon are they?" May asked, smiling down at the two new Pokémon.

"This is a Corphish, and that's Skitty." Ash said, gesturing to the Pokémon. Corphish snapped its claws open and closed several times and Skitty meowed cutely while looking up at May.

"Aww, this one is adorable." May squealed, reaching down towards Skitty. She grabbed it and picked it up before setting the cat like Pokémon in her lap. Skitty meowed again and wagged its tail excitedly.

Ash grinned upon seeing May taking a liking to Skitty. "Actually, I was planning on giving Skitty to you." He admitted.

May looked at him with surprise. "R-really? Y-you were?" She stammered, looking down at the Pokémon in her lap

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping you might be interested in using her in a contest."

...

"Now, I know you're not very fond of battling." Ash said, picking up Corphish and setting it down on his lap. "But as of now, you're only passion is stealing. We need to find you a new passion or hobby to replace it and get you out of this bad habit that you have."

May began to stroke the fur on Skitty's head. "But..."

"May," Ash began, looking at her sincerely. "Please try it, just once. I'll even help you practice."

...

May looked down at Skitty before letting out a sigh. "Oh all right..."

* * *

Ash, May, and Pikachu had all gone into the forest next to the city to find a good training spot. When they finally found a nice, open area, May called out Skitty.

...

"So um... How do I... Uh... Practice for this?" May asked, putting her hands on her hips as she watched Skitty, who had already gotten sidetracked and was chasing her own tail.

Ash scratched the back of his head, unsure of where to begin. He had never trained for a Pokémon Contest before.

"Oh You-who!"

Ash, May, Pikachu, and Skitty all glanced east upon hearing an ever so familiar voice ring through the air. They were surprise to see Harley walk into the clearing, marching over to the trainers.

"Well, well, what brings you two all the way out here?" Harley asked in a strange singsong voice, stopping a couple a feet away from them.

Ash grinned and adjusted the cap on his forehead. "May is training to participate in a contest." He said.

Harley clasped his hands together. "Oh really? Inspired by my brilliant performance, I see." He said arrogantly. "How is the training going?"

...

"Um... Honestly, we don't know where to start." May admitted with a sigh.

Harley smirked slightly and put his hands on his hips. "Oh? Well I 'ain't no rocket scientist, hon, but that sounds like a problem." He said. He stepped over to Skitty and crouched down by her. The small Pokémon slowly backed away. "Is this the Pokémon you plan on training?" He asked.

Ash and May nodded.

Harley then proceeded to give them a speech and full-blown lesson about Pokémon Contest. The two other trainers sat in the cool grass, side by side with Pikachu and Skitty in their laps as he rambled on and on about various elements of the competition.

Eventually Harley finished with his speech and released his Cacturne. He began to call out attacks. Cacturne performed the attacks that were ordered majestically, Ash couldn't help but notice the extra flash in the moves. Harley surprised them both by showing them combinations using different moves together to create interesting outcomes.

Then came implementing what they had learned. With a little help from Ash and Harley, May began to figure out several of the moves Skitty knew and how she could apply them to please the judges of a contest.

Although the learning session was long and exhausting, Ash could tell May was having a good time and enjoying the quality time with Skitty. The time seemed to fly by, and before they all knew it, the sun was setting. The evening sky was tinted orange from the setting sun and a cool ocean breeze swept through the air.

May giggled as she laid in the grass and Skitty hopped lightly on her stomach. Ash, who was standing, turned to Harley, with a grateful smile.

"Thanks a lot for helping May out today." Ash said with a smile.

Harley waved it off bashfully. "Well I couldn't help it." He said. "You two would have been hopelessly lost without my genius to guide your way."

...

"Yeah..." Ash said, scratching the back of his head. "Right."

Harley once again said goodbye and proudly marched away in the direction of Slateport City. Ash sighed and flopped down in the grass beside May, taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair. "Well that was exhausting." He admitted.

May smiled and rolled her head to the side, looking over at him. "But we made a lot of progress!" She said excitedly. "I can feel my bond with Skitty strengthening! Soon I'll be able to talk to her like you can to Pikachu!"

Ash chuckled, and looked at her. "Hate to break it to you, but that's not going to happen so quickly." He told her.

May pouted and turned her gaze up to the clouds. As she and Ash laid in the grass silently, a grin stretched across her face. "You know, I didn't want to participate in a contest earlier." She admitted. "But now that we've been practicing and learned some tricks from Harley, I'm kind of looking forward to it."

Ash smiled happily, glad to hear May was going to try out contests with an open heart. "Just try your best." Ash told her. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

May nodded in agreement.

...

...

...

"Hey Ash."

"Yeah?"

"Okay, so... Strange question."

"Alright, shoot."

"Is Harley a man or a woman?"

* * *

**So I had this really weird idea for a fic the other day. It's quite strange... so stop me if I'm going crazy. xD It's an Advanceshipping fic, of course, about Ash and May figuring out that they love each other and becoming a couple, but Dawn comes in and out of jealousy tries to stop them from getting into a relationship. The catch is that Dawn doesn't want to get with Ash. She's a lesbian. xD xD xD**

**AdvanceShipping vs. SapphirePearlShipping**

**...**

**xD**

**Yeah, okay, so real talk. I've figure out what I want to do next. I want to rewrite Fiercer Than a Legendary. But before I tackle such a massive project, I want to make sure that I know what I'm getting into with this rewriting fics business. I plan on rewriting Lessons Learned so I make sure I know what I'm doing and because that also needs to be re-written.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~ The Shiny Gengar**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Contest Ribbon**

* * *

May found herself staring into a mirror nervously. She was in the Slateport City contest hall using one of the dressing rooms designed specifically for coordinators. She had on her normal attire, but had put on a little makeup to bring out her facial features and combed her hair.

_"While it's most important for the Pokémon to show their true beauty, a trainer must also be looking at his or her best during a contest," Harley had told her and Ash. "Which means you should be putting on makeup."_

_The girl had cringed at the statement. "M-makeup?" May asked, not liking what Harley had said._

_"Mhmm, you're a girl, so you should be fine," the man assured her. "Mascara and eye liner allow the judges and audience to see your face clearly, even from far away."_

It was just another annoyance caused by the dumb contest Ash wanted her to participate in. Despite that, she was looking forward to working with Skitty and seeing how the hard training they had done would pay off, as much as she didn't want to admit it. Nonetheless, she was extremely nervous.

There was a knock at the door, causing the girl to jump slightly with a start. "C-come in," she stammered, turning her gaze down away from the mirror.

Ash peeked into the room, making sure May was decent before stepping in, an excited smile plastered across his face. Pikachu was on the trainer's shoulder, as usual. "Do you think you're ready to compete?" Ash asked, stepping across the room and laying a hand on May's shoulder.

The young girl shrugged silently. "I'm feeling a bit nervous," she admitted, clutching her stomach. "I'm feeling Butterfrees in my belly." She looked up at the boy with worried eyes.

Ash's eyes brightened upon seeing May look at him. "Hey, you look great with the makeup on," he complimented her, hoping to make her feel better. The girl blushed in embarrassment and turned away from him.

"T-thanks," she stuttered.

"I'm sure you'll do great," Ash told her, leaning against the wall and sliding down into a sitting position. As he made himself comfortable on the ground, Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and snuggled into his lap. "And even if you don't, who cares, right? As long as you do your best, I'll be proud."

May smiled slightly at his encouraging words. "Thanks, Ash," she murmured quietly.

There was a brief moment of silence while Ash scratched Pikachu behind the ears and May stared at her reflection. She wasn't used to seeing her face covered in makeup.

"When I was young, Mom would put makeup on me for fun and to make me look pretty," she said with a small smile, but it quickly faded away. "When Dad took me away, I never used it. Before today, I haven't used makeup since I was with my mom."

Ash stopped scratching Pikachu and looked up at May. _Her mother really loved her, unlike Norman,_ he thought, which brought up a question. "Now that you're not with your dad anymore, why not return to your mom?"

May stood up from the desk she had been sitting at, before looking down at Ash for a minute sadly. She began to make her way to the door, wordlessly grasping the knob and opening the door to leave.

"Wait! If you don't want to talk about it, we can talk about something else!" Ash said quickly, holding out his hand in her direction. May sighed and leaned her head against the door.

"You deserve to know," she admitted quietly. She let go of the door and walked over to Ash and Pikachu, sitting down next to them on the ground.

"I've done terrible things since my father took me away from home," she said, her head bowed and her hair blocking out her eyes. "I'm afraid my mom won't be able to accept me anymore because of what I've become..."

Ash didn't know what to say, he looked down at Pikachu, who was watching May sadly as she spoke.

The girl held her hand up before clenching her fist. "It's so unfair," she said, her body shaking a little. "Why'd Dad have to come in and ruin my life?"

Ash laid a hand on the girl's shoulder, seeing she was on the verge of tears. "Hey, hey, don't cry," he told her, squeezing her shoulder slightly. "You'll mess up your makeup."

May chuckled slightly scooting a little closer to Ash. "Yeah," she said, suppressing the urge to rub her watering eyes and rather blinked away the tears.

Ash smiled and gave her an encouraging pat. "You've got a contest to look forward to, try not to think about these things right now," he told her. "You ready to get out there and kick some butt?"

May sniffed as she recovered from her small wave of emotions and smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

May's training with Skitty and Harley paid off. She made it past the appeals round and into the battle rounds. The screen hanging over the large battlefield where the appeals had taken place randomly scrolled through images of the trainers who made it through into the second round.

May image stopped beside the image of a young boy who had green hair and a small smirk on his face.

"Drew, huh?" Ash thought aloud as he saw the name of the coordinator under the picture. He sat in the stands with the rest of the crowd, watching the contest taking place before him while slowly stroking Pikachu's fur. "He sure seems confident."

The break between the appeals round and the first battle round was long, so Ash and Pikachu headed down to where all the coordinators were waiting patiently for the event to continue. He found May sitting in the corner, away from the other coordinators, with Skitty resting in her lap.

May looked up as Ash walked over to her and smiled. "Hey, great job in the appeals round," he complimented her. "You and Skitty both did great!"

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu chirped in agreement.

May's smile widened and she turned her gaze back down to Skitty. "Thanks, guys," she said, a blush of embarrassment plastered across her face.

Ash sat down beside her, crossing his legs and setting Pikachu down in his lap. "Are you ready for the next round?" The boy asked.

May nodded, causing her hair to bounce. "Yeah," she told him. "Once Skitty's rested enough, we'll be ready to battle that Drew guy!"

"Oh, so you're my opponent."

Ash and May both looked up to see a male trainer standing before them. He had his hands in his pockets and was virtually emitting confidence. The young man flicked his green hair from his face and looked down with a smirk. "A newbie, huh? What a shame. I was hoping for a little more of a challenge," he said, removing his left hand from his pocket and placing it on his hip. "At least try to put up a little bit of a fight for me, will ya?"

Ash growled slightly and stood up. "Hey! Don't speak to May that way!" Ash exclaimed angrily.

"May, hm?" Drew asked, turning his gaze down on the brunette sitting on the ground. His eyes fell on Skitty, who was paying no heed to the conversation. He snorted and smirked. "You're gonna battle me with that?"

May was at a loss for words. She had nothing she could say in her own defense. "W-well," was all she could manage to sputter out.

Drew just chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever," he said, turning to leave. "When our battle comes, I'll make it quick and painless."

Drew glanced back at the two trainers. May had her gaze glued to the ground while Ash glared at Drew. "Hmph, you're welcome."

And with that, he strolled away, leaving May and Ash alone with their Pokémon. Ash turned to May, who was visibly upset. "Hey, don't worry," Ash said, clenching his fist. "You're gonna beat that jerk! You just got to be confident."

"But... Drew seemed really confident," May murmured, not looking up at Ash. "He's also probably really experienced."

Ash crouched down beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Well you're not exactly inexperienced, either," he told her. "You had all that training with Harley yesterday. I know you can beat Drew."

May took and deep breath and closed her eyes. "I... I hope you're right."

* * *

Unfortunately the battle didn't go well for May. Drew's Roselia was easily able to over power Skitty, and it wasn't long before the battle was over.

Ash slumped in his seat upon seeing that Drew had won. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, she tried her best," Ash said, putting on a smile. "I guess that's what really matters."

He watched as May sadly returned Skitty and walked off the battle field as the crowd cheered for Drew. He stood up and hurried out of the bleachers and into the coordinator room.

He entered to see May was once again sitting in the corner, a tired Skitty resting in her lap. Neither of them looked happy. Ash stepped over to them and sat down on the ground close by. "Hey, great job out there," he said comfortingly.

May, who had her gaze locked on the ground, shrugged, not saying a word.

"You tried your best," Ash told her. "And you did great for your first time."

May sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "I didn't want to win that stupid contest anyway," she said, clenching her fist. "What a waste of time."

"Aw come on, you know that's not true," Ash said, scooting closer to her. He sat directly in front of her. Both of them sat cross leg and where close enough that their knees were touching. "Contests strengthen your bond with your Pokémon."

"Pi!" Pikachu agreed.

May turned her head away from Ash. "T-that's not important," she told him, shaking her head.

"But it is," Ash protested, laying a hand on May's shoulder. "A strong bond with your Pokémon is more important than any valuable you could ever steal." He smiled and looked at Pikachu. "I wouldn't trade my bond with Pikachu for anything in the world!"

Pikachu chirped happily and nuzzled Ash's cheek with his. May watched as Ash and Pikachu laughed together, looking down at Skitty, who was napping in her lap. She sighed and slowly began to stroke her fur, causing the cat-like Pokémon to purr. "It's not about the ribbon?" she asked quietly.

Despite her low tone, Ash still heard her. "Yeah, contests aren't just about ribbons, and gym battles aren't just about badges. It's about strengthening your bond with you Pokémon and growing stronger with them," Ash said with a grin. "Ribbons and badges are solid objects you use to remember the tough battles you faced to grow with your Pokémon."

May finally looked at Ash fully, revealing a tear running down her cheek. The young boy smiled sadly at her and wiped away her tear with his thumb. "Let's go watch the rest of the contest together," he suggested, standing up from his sitting position. "Maybe we'll learn a few things." He held out a hand for May to take. The girl looked up at him before smiling a little and taking his hand. He pulled her to her feet. May held onto him with one hand while Skitty rested in her arms.

Together they left the coordinator room and walked back into the auditorium, finding empty seats and sitting down to watch the rest of the contest. Drew won the following rounds and claimed the ever-coveted Slateport ribbon. Seeing that the contest was over, Ash was ready to leave, but May wanted to go down to the battlefield and talk to Drew. As the crowd headed towards the exits of the contest hall, May fought against the flow of people as she made her way down the stairs to the battle field where Drew was shaking hands with various people who were congratulating him on his victory.

May stepped up to Drew with her hands behind her back and Skitty on her shoulder similar to how Pikachu would be on Ash's shoulder. The green haired trainer quickly noticed her and turned his attention to her. "Hey, Drew," May said sheepishly. She then took a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut, sticking her hand out stiffly for a handshake. "Congratulations on winning."

Drew looked at May, and down at her hand, and back at May. "Uh, gee, thanks," he said, taking her gloved hand and shaking it. May opened an eye and peeked at Drew before releasing the deep breath she had been holding.

"Ugh, that was worse than I thought it would be," May said, letting go of Drew's hand and brushing her hand on her pants.

Drew twitched. "What-!?" The trainer exclaimed, a vein popping from his head. He quickly collected himself and smirked, brushing his hair from his face. "Well, whatever. I won the contest. I couldn't care less about what you have to say." With that, Drew spun around on his heel and walked away. He walked through the coordinator room and into the hall, entering his dressing room and closing the door behind him. "Who does she think she is?" Drew grumbled, leaning against the door. "Well it doesn't matter. I won the contest and am one ribbon closer to the Grand Festival."

He reached down into his pocket to pull out his ribbon, but froze upon feeling the pocket was empty. "Wait… Where's my ribbon!?"

* * *

May happily fiddled with the ribbon in her hands, rubbing her thumb on the shiny metal and gently playing with the fabric with her fingers. "Isn't it pretty, Skitty?" She asked her pink Pokémon.

"Nyaa!" Skitty said happily, a grin stretched across her face.

"Hmm, I know Ash said it's not about the ribbon, but it's so pretty!" May said, smiling at her reflection in the golden tinted metal. "Maybe it would make a nice hair clip. Just a little glue and-"

"Oh, there you are, May," she could hear Ash say. The girl jumped at the voice and quickly stuffed the ribbon in her pocket.

"Oh, hey," she replied, putting on a cheeky grin and skipping over to him. "I'm hungry, let's go get something to eat!" She hurriedly grabbed his arm and dragged the surprised trainer out of the building, wanting to put some distance between herself and Drew.

"Uhh, so where do you want to eat?" Ash asked as he was pulled out onto the sidewalk.

May tapped her chin with her finger. "Hm, something on the other side of the city," she said.

Ash raised a brow. "What? Why?" He asked.

May stiffened for a moment, her gaze turned up towards the sky as she tried to come up with a better reason than the one she didn't want to tell Ash. "Um... Er... Because... There's a restaurant over there that I really like," May said.

"What restaurant?" Ash asked.

"Um..." May murmured. Her face brightened with an idea. "It's a cool little restaurant my mom took me to every time we came to Slateport."

"Okay, cool," Ash said with a smile.

* * *

After a long walk right across Slateport City, Ash and May arrived at the restaurant she had been talking about. It was a small tropical looking place that overlooked the beach. May's eyes sparkled as memories began to flow through her mind. "It hasn't changed a bit," she said softly, holding her hand up to her heart.

Ash smiled at the girl before proceeding up the creaky wooden steps. May snapped out of her thoughts and followed Ash up the steps and into the small building. They got a waitress to lead them back outside and to a table, giving them the perfect view of the beach.

"Wow... It's been so long..." May said, looking around as memories of the familiar place flowed through her mind. "So many memories..."

Ash placed Pikachu down on the table and smiled at May, picking up one of the menus the waitress had given them. "Did you come here often as a kid?" He asked.

May picked up her menu and smiled at him. "Whenever Mom would take me to Slateport City, we'd always come here for lunch," she explained. "It was her favorite place to eat."

The girl's smile grew as she turned to look at the beach. "And once we were done we would go straight to the beach and play," she said, her eyes watering slightly. "Those were the days."

Ash, who was listening while reading through the menu, shivered slightly as the ocean breeze blew past. "Sounds like the perfect day," he told her.

May nodded. "It wasn't a complete trip to Slateport City if we didn't eat here and go to the beach," she said cheerfully.

Ash looked up from his menu. "Then let's go to the beach after this," he said with a grin.

May looked at him with surprise. "Huh?" She grunted as she raised a brow.

Ash chuckled. "Why not? The point of coming here was to avoid Norman, but nobody said we couldn't have a good time."

May blinked a few times. "Well... If it's okay with you," she murmured.

Ash laughed. "Of course it's okay. I love the beach," he said. "After this, we'll go to the beach. Deal?"

May smiled and nodded. "De-"

_"Freeze!"_

The two trainers jumped at the sight of two policemen who were pointing at May. The girl's eyes widened and she attempted to get up from her seat and jump off the outdoor patio surrounding the restaurant, but was out sped by one of the officers and was held down. The girl screamed and struggled as she tried to escape the man's grasp.

"Ash! Help me!" May cried out, but the surprised boy only watched in confusion.

As the officer that caught her held her down, the other officer began to pat her pockets. He reached in and pulled out the Slateport Ribbon from May's pocket. Ash's eyes widened as he saw the object.

"May... Did you...?" He murmured, leaning forward to get a better view.

"Is this the ribbon, sir?" One of the officers asked, holding out the ribbon.

A familiar green haired coordinator walked up onto the patio with his hands in his pocket. Drew looked at the ribbon in the man's hand before nodding and taking it. "This is the one," he confirmed with a nod. "Thank you, officer."

"May..." Ash said sadly.

"Ash, I'm sorry!" May cried, once again trying to pull from the officer's grip. The man held on tightly though, making sure she wasn't going anywhere. The other pulled out a pair of handcuffs and clamped them on May's wrist. Upon feeling the cold metal on her skin, May realized fighting was futile and gave up resisting.

"Oh Ash..." May whimpered, tears running down her eyes. "I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry."

Ash watched in silence as the two officers took May away off the patio.

"Such a shame," Drew sighed, sticking his ribbon in his ribbon case. Ash was about to angrily tell the coordinator to shut up, but the green haired trainer spoke up again. "She was really good in that last contest considering she was a newbie. She had so much potential."

Drew turned to Ash, letting another sigh escape his mouth. "I hope you don't hold this against me. I just wanted my ribbon back," Drew said.

Ash sighed and bowed his head. "No... I understand," he murmured, resting his elbows on the table.

After a few moments of silence, Drew left the patio and disappeared from sight.

* * *

May sat curled up in the cold corner of a small cell in the police station. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her face was buried in her knees. Her pockets had been empty and her fanny pack had been taken away from her, meaning she no longer had her Pokémon with her.

She could only wonder what the police would do to the Pokémon. Send them into the wild? Keep them in a cell like her? Give them to another trainer? What if the trainer was mean and abused them? May would have never imagined at the start of her journey that she'd become so concerned about her Pokémon. Thanks to Ash, she had become quite attached to them.

She lifted her head from its place planted in her legs and glanced out the cell, seeing the cell across her was holding a hairy man in ragged and torn up clothes. He didn't appear sober.

_Oh, I shouldn't be locked up like him!_ May thought, clenching her eyes shut and once again hiding her face in her legs. _Why'd I have to succumb into temptation and take that dumb ribbon!?_

Despite how much she had always tried to deny it, she knew this day would come, the day of her capture. She wasn't one to look ahead into the future though and lived in the moment, which she had always known would be her downfall.

She sat up straight as she realized something. _Oh no!_ May thought. _They have my fanny pack! Which means they could find the-!_

Her thoughts were cut off though when she heard an ever so familiar voice conversing with another not so familiar voice.

May looked up once again to see Ash and one of the officers step up to the cell. The girl had never been so happy to see the boy.

"Ash! I'm so sorry about this!" May said, quickly getting up and running up to the iron bars. Tears once again flowed down her cheeks as she gripped the cold metal. "Please take care of Torchic, Mudkip, and Skitty for me! They don't deserve this!"

"Calm down, lady. That's not going to be a problem," the officer said, pulling out some keys.

May looked at him and raised a brow. "W-what?" She stammered.

"Your friend here is bailing you out," the man said, using the keys to unlock the cell and open it for May.

May simply stood before the open door in surprise, her bottom lip quivering. "I can be bailed?" She asked.

"Sure, there's already enough crime in this city," the man said, twirling the keys around in circles on his index finger. "We don't have room in our cells for children like you."

The girl turned to Ash, who was grinning, slowly stepping out of the cell and towards him. "But... Why?" She asked. The bail had to have taken a toll on Ash's wallet.

The boy shrugged with a smile. "Well, I promised you we'd go to the beach so-" he was cut short as May lunged forward and embraced him. Ash yelped and stumbled backwards a few steps before catching his footing. After standing still for a few moments, he reached over and returned May's embrace.

"Thank you," May said. Her voice was muffled because her face was buried in Ash's jacket.

"Hey, no problem," he told her, patting her back. "It wasn't a very expensive bail anyways."

The two let go of each other and May took a step back, wiping her watering eyes with her arm. With that, the officer led May and Ash away from the cells and back to the front office, where May's stuff was returned to her.

She sighed and relief and held up one of her Pokéballs, rubbing it against her cheek with a smile. "It's so good to see you again."

* * *

May found herself sitting in the warm sand, the ocean displayed before her. Ash sat next to her, drawing in the sand with his index finger. The two had changed into their swimsuits and their Pokémon were cheerfully running around the beach playing.

"It's been a long day," May said, flopping down on her back and spreading her arms out. "It feels good to just lie here and let your worries blow away with the wind."

Ash smiled and nodded in agreement lying down on the sand beside her. "Hm, yeah," he murmured, resting his head in his hands and closing his eyes.

May looked at Ash for a moment before scooting closer to the boy. She couldn't remember the last time she had such a great friend, or a friend at all, for that matter. She was constantly on the move with her father, so she never had the chance to become friends with someone.

Besides, she was a thief. She emitted an aura that made people uncomfortable because of her misdeeds. Most of the time, people tried to steer clear of her. But Ash was different, not only did he become her friend, but he made an effort to be the best friend he could possibly be, despite May's bad habits.

If she could ever change her ways, she would do it for Ash.

Ash's eyes opened and he looked to his left to see May's gaze locked on him. He blinked silently a few times before sitting up. May sat up as well, crossing her legs to be in a more comfortable position.

"I... I can't thank you enough for bailing me out," May said, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. "I really thought that was the end of the road for me."

Ash chuckled and dusted some of the sand off his back. "I told you it's no big deal," he said. "Just refrain from stealing anything else."

May nodded, putting on a confident smile. "I'll do my best," she said, watching as Corphish and Mudkip ran past them.

_He's done so much for me. He's made so many sacrifices,_ she thought as they quietly sat on the beach. _I hope I can return the favor someday._

May yawned, finding herself exhausted from the day's events. She stretched and leaned on Ash tiredly, blinking several times as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

"Hey, I was thinking," Ash said, letting May lean on him. "We could go back to that restaurant for dinner, being that lunch was cut a bit short."

May sat up straight and looked at him with a smile. "Yeah, that sounds good," she agreed.

* * *

After washing the sand off themselves at the public showers, Ash and May once again found themselves sitting on the patio of the restaurant, at the same table they had right before May had been.

"Well, hopefully we aren't interrupted this time," May said, placing her fanny pack on the table.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed from Ash's shoulder.

Ash chuckled and picked up his menu. "So now that we've done all there is to do in Slateport, I figured we'd head over to Mauville Town," the trainer said as he studied the menu. "There's a gym there and a contest taking place soon."

"That is... If you want to do contests," Ash said, looking up at May.

The girl looked at him for a moment before smiling. "Yeah, why not? If it strengthens my bond with my Pokémon," she said. "Plus the ribbons are really pretty too."

There was a loud thumping noise heard on the restaurant's patio as a tall man wearing a hooded jacket sped across. He dashed by Ash and May's table, snatching up the fanny pack May had left lying there.

The girl's eyes widened as she saw the thief run off with her stuff. "Hey!" May exclaimed. "He just took my fanny pack!" The girl stood up from the table as she saw the man getting away. "That has my Pokémon in it!"

* * *

**Will this villainess thief be able to get away? ****Will May be able to get her Pokémon back? ****And will the irony of the situation teach her a lesson? ****Find out next episode of The Bad Habit!**

**Sorry for the wait, I had theater this semester and it sucked up a lot of my time. But the play is finished, so I should have more time to write.**

**Until next time**

**The Shiny Gengar**


End file.
